Department for Transport

Roads: Solar Power

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has commissioned research on solar panel roadways and associated  technology; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has not commissioned research on solar panel roadways and associated technology. Highways England are currently considering their strategy for work on solar panel roadways and the Department is aware of a private initiative to trial this technology currently underway in Cambridge. The Department is also monitoring similar schemes overseas, including in France, the Netherlands and the United States of America, and will continue to monitor their progress.

Rolling Stock

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what penalties his Department imposes on rail operators who repeatedly use short-formed trains.

Joseph Johnson: The franchise agreement between the Department and train operators include key performance benchmarks, including short formations. The Department monitors each train operator’s overall performance against these levels, and this includes regular meetings with their senior management where performance figures are scrutinised and challenged. There are a range of enforcement mechanisms available to the Department in the event of non-compliance.

Northern: Rolling Stock

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many short-formed trains were run by Northern in each month from the beginning of its current franchise agreement to date.

Joseph Johnson: Northern publish this information every 4 weeks on their website (https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/corporate/333-performance) as part of their Customer Promise. I attach a table for ease.



133191 - Northen Railway Performance
(Excel SpreadSheet, 10.82 KB)

Vehicle Number Plates: Fraud

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of illegal car registration plates.

Jesse Norman: The law requires anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK to be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied. The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements. The DVLA also works closely with both the police and trading standards to share intelligence and to support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply with the legal requirements. Enforcement of the law relating to the display of number plates is a matter for the police. The police can issue a fixed penalty if a vehicle is displaying an illegal number plate. When notified by the police that an offence has been committed, the DVLA will write to the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned. This letter will notify the keeper that the registration number must be correctly displayed or it will be permanently withdrawn.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 131899, and with reference to the Second Reading debate on the Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill on 4 December 2015, when his Department plans to conclude the work to examine more closely the legal and financial implications of a new law on pavement parking.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has been considering the scope for improving the Traffic Regulation Order process. However, the Department is now undertaking a broader piece of work to gather evidence on the issue of pavement parking including how it is addressed in current regulation. We expect to be able to draw conclusions later this year.

Cycling: Accidents

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries of cyclists that were attributable to poorly-maintained local roads in England in each year since 2007.

Jesse Norman: The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded on local roads in England for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. Reported cyclist serious and fatal injuries on local roads in England where poorly maintained roads is reported as a contributory factor1 Poor or defective road surface Inadequate or masked signs or road markingsYearReported Cyclist FatalitiesReported Cyclist Serious InjuriesReported Cyclist FatalitiesReported Cyclist Serious Injuries20072120520080150620091280520106210620112370420121380320131341102014046010201514209201645207Source: DfT STATS19 reported road casualties 1 Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 72% of reported accidents that took place on local roads in England. By way of context, cycling in England has increased over the time period in question, rising from 3.7 billion kilometres in 2007 to 5.0 billion kilometres in 2016. It should be noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 72% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 on local roads in England met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

Immigration Controls

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which countries he has visited to observe at first hand their border control operations.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Secretary of State has visited a range of countries where he has discussed a variety of issues. Responsibility for the operation of border controls rests with the Home Office.

Cross Border Cooperation: North America

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met US or Canadian officials to discuss how their cross border customs checks function.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Secretary of State has met US and Canadian officials through G7 and other meetings, where a range of issues were discussed.

East Midlands Rail Franchise: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the rolling stock on the East Midlands Trains franchise will be PRM TSI compliant by 2020.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The incumbent operator is working with rolling stock companies to develop different solutions to achieve compliance. Once the industry has developed a preferred solution, it will be considered by the Department, but no decisions have yet been taken.

Heathrow Airport

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timeframe are for (i) Systra and (ii) Costain to make an assessment of the feasibility of Heathrow Airport’s North West Runway.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport appointed Costain and its subcontractor Systra as advisors to the Airport Capacity Programme on 26 February 2018. We have asked them to undertake an early assurance review of Heathrow Airport Limited’s plans for its proposed Northwest Runway scheme. We have requested an interim report by late spring.

Heathrow Airport

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of Heathrow Airport’s North West Runway scheme.

Jesse Norman: In 2015 Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) submitted a scheme which the Airports Commission assessed would cost £17.6 billion. Following this the Secretary of State set out his ambition for landing charges to remain close to current levels. Subsequently, the Government commissioned the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, to oversee and report on the quality of engagement between HAL and its airline customers. This process has proved successful. HAL have reported a reduction in scheme costs by up to £2.5 billion against the scheme they submitted.

Heathrow Airport

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department have made to revise the National Policy Statement in the event of a change to the cost of Heathrow Airport’s North West Runway scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Planning Act 2008 sets out the circumstances in which any National Policy Statement should be developed, reviewed and amended. The NPS is already clear that the developer should demonstrate that its scheme is cost-efficient and sustainable, and seeks to minimise costs to airlines, passengers and freight owners over its lifetime.

A31: Road Signs and Markings

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that the recent request of St Leonards & St Ives Parish Council that permission be granted for the erection of a destination sign post from the A31 to Braeside Village Hall is approved; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Highways England have advised me that they have not received an application for the erection of a destination sign post from the A31 to Braeside Village Hall from St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council. If the council would like to make an application for a brown tourist sign, they should contact Highways England’s customer contact centre, via their website.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Compensation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £300 million allocated by his Department to Network Rail for improvement works on the Southern and Thameslink networks will be paid to Govia Thameslink Railway in compensation for disruption during those works.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of surplus rolling stock on the rail network in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Joseph Johnson: The UK rolling stock market is very healthy and it will be for train operators to determine their rolling stock requirements. Recently awarded franchises will deliver thousands of new carriages as older trains are phased out, with all Pacer trains gone by 2020.

Network Rail: Contracts

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to encourage Network Rail to (a) monitor its Tier 1 suppliers and (b) ensure SMEs are contracted for high value supply side contracts.

Joseph Johnson: As an arm’s length body, Network Rail operates with independence on day-to-day operational matters from the Department. I do note, however, that more than half of Network Rail’s supply chain are SMEs and that Network Rail is taking the following actions:working closely with its Tier 1 suppliers to monitor and encourage relationships with SMEs and has increased direct engagement with SMEs through dedicated working groups, regional forums & roadshows, working alongside industry bodies such as the RIA.actively challenging poor practice, promoting the concept of ‘mutual dependency’ and holding Tier 1 organisations to account on issues of fair payment, aligned objectives & terms & conditions, better use of framework arrangements and the abolition of (sub-contract) retentions.reviewing its procurement process to remove barriers for SMEs. Within its supply chain, it is generally for Tier 1 organisations to contract SMEs as part of their Tier 2 procurement process. Network Rail is also encouraging Tier 1 suppliers to embrace the SME agenda by implementing regional conferences with their SME / Tier 2 Suppliers.

Network Rail: Procurement

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment. he has made of the merits of supply chain audits of Network Rail to ensure that procurement practices provide value for money.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail has an established governance regime for their procurement practices. These are subject to independent scrutiny by the Department, the National Audit Office and the Rail Regulator. Network Rail’s procurement process contains a number of initiatives to support a diverse and sustainable supply base, which includes SMEs. This includes requiring its Tier 1 organisations to obtain 3 independent quotations in the procurement of their key Tier 2 suppliers, thereby promoting competition and value for money.

Cycling: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries of cyclists that were attributable to poorly-maintained local roads in the West Midlands in each year since 2008.

Jesse Norman: The number of reported killed and serious injuries (KSIs) of cyclists that were attributable to poorly-maintained local roads in the West Midlands region during the years 2008 to 2016 was 21. The number of deaths and serious injuries of cyclists per year on local roads in England has been published in a previous answer to the Hon Member for Leeds North West (Fabian Hamilton MP) on 26 March, UIN 133335. It should be noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user. However, they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before identifying contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene. This data includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which at least one contributory factor was reported. In the years 2008 to 2016, this related to 72% of reported accidents that took place on local roads in the West Midlands. Each accident may have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

Transport: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided to support transport projects in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry in each of the last three years.

Jesse Norman: In the West Midlands, over £5.1 billion of public money has been spent on transport in the last three years, improving connectivity, shortening journey times, reducing congestion, and transporting people and goods. Figures are not available at the level of individual authorities. However, in Coventry City, this has included £30m in Government contributions to the Coventry station redevelopment masterplan, £4.7 million local major funding towards the completed Coventry-Nuneaton Rail Upgrade with a station at Coventry (Ricoh) area and extended platforms at Bedworth and £5.5m challenge funding for major maintenance at Swanswell Viaduct.

Electric Vehicles: Rural Areas

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the (a) number and (b) distribution of charging points for electric cars in rural areas.

Jesse Norman: The Government has put in place a range of grant schemes to support the installation of charging infrastructure, on-street, off-street and at workplaces, that are available in any urban or rural areas UK-wide. In addition, under the Government’s Go Ultra Low City Scheme £22.9m has been allocated to support the installation of infrastructure currently being procured and installed in several UK cities and wider surrounding rural areas. At the Autumn Budget in 2017, the Chancellor announced a new £400m electric vehicle Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund. This funding could include supporting chargepoints in both rural and urban areas, and more detail on how the Fund will be administered will be published in due course. We are also taking powers through the Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill to ensure the roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure at key locations such as motorway service areas and large fuel stations.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Construction: Billing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Construction Supply Chain Payment Charter; how many companies have signed up to that charter; and what steps he is taking to ensure that 30 day payments become standard across the industry.

Richard Harrington: The Construction Supply Chain Payment Charter is a voluntary measure which sets standards for payment practices within the industry and aims to create a more collaborative culture and ensure a strong, resilient and sustainable supply chain. To date there are 42 signatories to the Charter.Unjustified late and non-payment of any amount owed is unacceptable. These practices cause particular problems for small businesses in the construction sector. The Government is committed to tackling them and a number of steps have been taken to improve payment performance including through its own procurement activities, introducing reporting requirements on payment policies and practices and other voluntary measures such as the Prompt Payment Code that promotes 30 day payment terms as the norm for acceptable behaviour in the UK. At the Spring Statement my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer also announced that BEIS will lead on a call for evidence, which will consider evidence to ensure unfair payment practices are eliminated for small business.

United Kingdom Accreditation Service

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on (a) international and (b) EU recognition of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service after the UK leaves the EU.

Andrew Griffiths: The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the UK’s National Accreditation Body. We are working closely with UKAS to ensure that its future relationships with international and European bodies continue to support a productive, open and competitive business environment in the UK. The UK Government recognises the valuable role of accreditation and conformity assessment in providing business confidence.

Consumers: Data Protection

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will use the upcoming Consumer Law Green Paper to commit to solving data sharing issues in order to improve the protection of vulnerable consumers.

Andrew Griffiths: We will issue a Consumer Green Paper in due course that will tackle areas where markets are not working for consumers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was formed on 14 July 2016. The available details of cash raised by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings since 2016 is shown in the table below. The values for 2017-18 are based on the unaudited and unpublished Period 9 (up to 31 December 2017) draft Core and Agencies accounts. The response solely relates to money raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings and does not include cash receipts from the repayment of loans. Core Department and AgenciesCore Department and AgenciesCore Department and Agencies 2017-18 (Up to 31 December 2017)2016-172015-16 £m£m£ma) Proceeds from the sale of assets (including investment properties, property, plant and equipment excluding land and buildings, intangible assets and assets held for sale)1,567410b) Proceeds from the sale of land000c) Proceeds from the sale of buildings000Total1,567410

National Grid

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with National Grid on its superfast charging network; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Provision of rapid charging infrastructure at Motorway Service Areas will be an important part of the future electric vehicle charging network. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles has met with National Grid on three occasions in recent months as one of a number of stakeholders that we talk to regularly to ensure our electricity system is prepared for the rollout of electric vehicles.

Minimum Wage

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to respond to the recent finding by HMRC that 98,150 workers were paid less than the minimum wage in 2016-17.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken since 2015 to increase compliance with minimum wage regulations by employers.

Andrew Griffiths: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. We are clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it. The enforcement budget has been increased to £25.3m for 2017/18 up from £13 million in 2015/2016. We have also doubled the fines for firms who break the rules from 100% to 200% of the arrears owed to the worker, up to a maximum of £20,000 per worker. In addition to proactive targeted enforcement activity and a £1.75 million communications campaign last year to raise employer awareness, HMRC follows up on every complaint it receives; including those made to the ACAS helpline and via the online complaint form.

Energy: Housing

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to allocate funding from the public purse for home energy efficiency installations; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Meters

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many SMETS2 meters (a) have been installed and (b) are operational.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Meters

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that savings from the roll-out of smart meters will be passed on to consumers.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Conditions of Employment

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132396 on Conditions of Employment, whether his Department plans to commission a review on the deregulation of employment rights.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132396 on Conditions of Employment, whether his Department is conducting a review on the deregulation of employment rights under existing EU (a) Decisions, (b) Regulations and (c) Directives.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132396 on Conditions of Employment, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on the UK employment market of the potential deregulation of (a) employment rights and (b) protections under EU (a) Decisions, (b) Regulations and (c) Directives.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government’s position on employment rights was set out recently in the Government Response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, in which we committed to firm action and future legislation to enhance employment rights. We are currently consulting on how best to achieve this change.

Comité Européen de Normalisation and Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique: Membership

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK will retain its membership of the (a) European Committee for Standardisation and  (b) European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation, after the UK leaves the EU.

Andrew Griffiths: The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the UK’s National Standards Body and the UK member of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC). BSI is independent of the UK Government, and the European standards organisations CEN and CENELEC are independent of the European Union. BSI has made clear its preference to remain a member of the European standards organisations. We are working with BSI to ensure that our future relationship with the European Standards Organisations continues to support a productive, open and competitive business environment in the UK.

Tidal Power: Swansea Bay

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Welsh Government onthe Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Prices

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) domestic and (b) small non-domestic energy customers are presently on time of use tariffs.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

World War I: Anniversaries

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made representations to the retail sector to allow Sunday shop workers to take part in the commemoration of the centenary of the 1918 armistice; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: Shop workers (except those employed to work solely on Sundays) have the right to opt out of working on Sundays, subject to a notice period, even if they have entered into a contractual agreement to do Sunday shop work. They are legally protected against dismissal or detriment for exercising this right.

New Businesses: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department it taking to support young entrepreneurs.

Andrew Griffiths: Our Industrial Strategy aims to support entrepreneurs of all ages across the UK to ensure they can access the finance and wider support to grow and have the right conditions for companies to invest long-term.The British Business Bank (BBB), through its Start Up Loans programme has lent over £400m to more than 54,000 entrepreneurs (at end of February 2018). Over 24,000 loans at a value of over £160m has been lent to individuals under the age of 30.The Government also provides support to start-up businesses across England through GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline. During financial year 2017/18, the Business Support Helpline provided support to 2,359 people under the age of 25.In addition, the Government has supported and invested in the creation of a network of 38 Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area), helping simplify the business support landscape, providing joined up access to the full range of local and national support programmes (public and private).

Modern Working Practices Review

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2018 to Question 128539, what progress his Department is making on redacting personal information from the submissions to the Taylor Review of modern working practices; and what the timetable is for publishing copies of the written evidence submitted to that review on the Gov.uk website.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government intends to publish both the submissions to the review and a list of who responded by the end of April.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Jan Kuciak

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if will make representations to the UN on the murder of Jan Kuciak in Slovakia.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The UK condemns the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova; we have offered our condolences. We have offered assistance to the Slovak authorities in their investigation if required. The Slovak government have not asked the UK to make representations to the UN on Kuciak's murder. It would be unusual for the UK to make representations to the UN on the murder of a non-British national not on UK soil, especially if the government in question has not requested it.

Russia: Chemical Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Novichok-5 was declared by the Russian Government to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Sir Alan Duncan: Russia has denied having a Novichok programme. It has not declared Novichok agents or production facilities as required by the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Libya: Repatriation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of loans to repatriate people from Libya to the UK in each of the last eight years.

Alistair Burt: Since March 2010, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided loans with a total value of £2944.24 to help people leave Libya.

Saudi Arabia: Overseas Workers

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he is taking steps to mitigate the effect of the increases to the dependent’s fee on British expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We understand the dependency fees, introduced by the Government of Saudi Arabia in July 2017, have had an impact on expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia. Taxation policy is a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities.

Tunisia: Human Rights

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress by Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission; and what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Tunisia on the work of the Truth and Dignity Commission.

Boris Johnson: The Truth and Dignity Commission is in the process of extending its mandate to 31 December 2018, and has started submitting cases of human rights violations to the newly created transitional justice chambers. This is an important step. I have made clear to the Tunisian Foreign Minister, including on his visit to London last October, the UK’s support for Tunisia as it continues on its path of reform since the 2011 revolution.

Tunisia: Human Rights

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Tunisian authorities in (a) prosecuting perpetrators of human rights abuses identified by Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission and (b) providing reparations for the victims of such human rights abuses.

Boris Johnson: The Truth and Dignity Commission is authorised by the Tunisian transitional justice mechanism to refer cases involving perpetrators of human rights abuses to the transitional justice chambers for prosecution. The Tunisian Government has committed itself to establishing a Dignity and Rehabilitation Fund to provide reparations to the victims of abuses, and is considering funding options.

Tunisia: Politics and Government

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the progress made by Tunisian authorities on establishing a constitutional court.

Boris Johnson: The Tunisian Government has committed itself to establishing a constitutional court in the near future. It has made provision for the court’s initial budget in the 2018 Finance Law. The election process for the twelve members of the constitutional court has begun.

Colombia: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Colombian counterpart on not accrediting the new representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the UN Office in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​​We welcome the appointment of Mr Alberto Brunori, who was announced as the new representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia on 21 March. We also thank the departing representative, Mr Todd Howland, for his leadership of the UN Office for Human Rights in Colombia since 2012. The office has played a vital role in supporting those working to improve human rights in Colombia. In December 2017, I was pleased to announce a package of support for Colombia’s peace process that included £400k in financial support for the UN Office for Human Rights.

Chevening

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much has been spent on Chevening (a) in total and (b) trustees in each of the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: Chevening House is not funded by the Government and is the responsibility of its trustees. The Prime Minister decides who occupies the building. It is currently shared by the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and the Secretary of State for International Trade.The following amounts have been spent by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Chevening House:- £25,600 per annum for the last twelve financial years to maintain security systems, including closed circuit television and emergency lighting;- In the financial year 2016/17, the FCO paid £80,000 for security enhancements.

Chevening: Grants

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any grant in aid will be provided to the trustees of Chevening during the 2017 Parliament.

Alistair Burt: Chevening House is not funded by the Government and is the responsibility of its trustees. The Prime Minister decides who occupies the building. It is currently shared by the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and the Secretary of State for International Trade.No grant in aid is expected to be given during the 2017 Parliament.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Politics and Government

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on securing the return of Mr Tofla Ndele from the Democratic Republic of Congo to his family in the UK.

Harriett Baldwin: We have been providing consular assistance to Mr Ndele and his family since we were informed of his arrest in September 2017. We have regularly lobbied the local authorities to progress his case, most recently when the Ambassador raised his case with Foreign Minister She Okitundu on 15 March 2018.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much money her Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Northern Ireland Office raised £15,326.03 from the sale of assets in 2017. The Department has not raised any other monies from the sale of assets, land or buildings since 2010.

Hillsborough Castle: Operating Costs

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate she has made of the running costs of Hillsborough Castle in each of the past 10 years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Northern Ireland Office holds the following details in relation to Hillsborough Castle running costs. Details for the years preceding are not retained by the department. 2010/11 £1,700,3582011/12  £1,678,7272012/13  £1,627,8272013/14 £1,185,6372014/15  £ 462,4722015/16 £ 338,6592016/17 £ 311,328

Department of Health and Social Care

Vitamin D

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take for people from at-risk groups, as identified in NICE Public Health Guideline 56, who are no longer able to access appropriate licensed vitamin D maintenance treatments as a result of only over the counter treatments being available under NHS England proposals.

Steve Brine: The Department has no such plans. NHS England recently consulted on conditions for which over the counter items should not routinely be prescribed in primary care, ‘A consultation on guidance for CCGs’ and also published a full Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment which covers groups protected by the Equality Act 2010 and those on low income. A copy of the document is attached. NHS England’s consultation document proposed that people who have demonstrated vitamin D deficiency will continue to have access to vitamin D on prescription. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Public Health Guideline 56 refers to widened access to vitamin D for those who are at risk of vitamin D deficiency, including the ability to purchase appropriate supplements if needed and access support from health care professionals to be able to safeguard their own health. The Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances states that vitamins and minerals should be prescribed only in the management of actual or potential vitamin or mineral deficiency, and are not to be prescribed as dietary supplements. We understand that NHS England’s consultation is in line with this. Prescribing vitamin D for maintenance would be classed as a treatment for prevention or as a dietary supplement.



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Department of Health and Social Care: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: The question has been interpreted as relating to the core Department. For the financial years 2010-11 to 2016-17, the proceeds obtained by the core Department through the disposal of assets are:  Proceeds from disposal ofFinancial YearPlant, property and equipment (£000’s)Intangible Assets (£000’s)Assets held for sale (£000’s)2016-175,861882261,6322015-1614,6911,2766752014-1551,840016,4892013-14(1,948)266197,3902012-138,3812,7381,9242011-129,2896362,9522010-1111,4176,6203,197

Incontinence: Health Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to explore the potential for a mandatory data set to provide transparency about the continence service which clinical commissioning groups are commissioning to enable NHS England to check how those groups are meeting the health needs of their population.

Steve Brine: NHS England has advised that the Excellence in Continence Care Guidelines are currently being refreshed and will then go through the publication process. There is no definitive date at the present time for publication. The development of a minimum data set is being considered for both commissioners and providers by the Excellence in Continence Care Group.

Heart Diseases: Screening

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the evidential basis for the decision of the UK National Screening Committee in 2015 not to recommend screening to prevent sudden cardiac death in 12 to 39-year-olds.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) makes recommendations to introduce a new screening programme based on robust peer reviewed evidence. This process was recognised by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Health Screening, which supported the idea that the evidential barrier should remain high because of the potential for screening to do harm. Further information is available here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmsctech/244/24409.htm In 2015, the UK NSC did not recommend screening to prevent Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in 12 to 39 year olds. This was due to the epidemiology of the condition not being fully understood a lack of published peer reviewed evidence to correctly identify the number of people affected and issues around the test. Further information on UK NSC’s recommendation can be found here: https://legacyscreening.phe.org.uk/suddencardiacdeath The UK NSC will be reviewing SCD in 2018/19.

Medical Treatments: France

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of UK citizens who will travel to Calais hospital for treatment in 2018 and (b) the total sum his Department plans to spend on medical procedures delivered in France in 2018.

Stephen Barclay: This information is not collected centrally.

Eating Disorders: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce the average waiting time for treatment for an eating disorder in the West Midlands.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with an eating disorder has access to timely treatment and have established a waiting time standard to improve access to eating disorders services for children and young people so that by 2020/21 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. Latest available waiting times figures for children and young people with an eating disorder, for quarters 1 to 3 of 2017/18, indicate that NHS England is on track to meet that standard with 76.9% of all patients starting urgent treatment within one week and 83.1% of patients starting routine treatment within four weeks. This information can be found at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cyped-waiting-times/ West Midlands are meeting the waiting time standards for eating disorders. One eating disorder service (Newbridge) has been rated “Outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission and is considered to be one of the best in the country. For adults, to further improve the eating disorder care, a pathway together with detailed implementation guidance for providers, is under development by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health in partnership with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Breast Cancer: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the take-up rate was for breast cancer screening in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry in 2017.

Steve Brine: The most recent data available is for 2016/17 published by NHS Digital. Information for each area is available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30195 During 2016/17 the national average for breast screening uptake was 71.1%. The uptake for Coventry was 68.1% (Coventry’s uptake rate is included in the West Midlands figure) and for West Midlands was 71.2% (this is a consolidated percentage based on eight regions within the West Midlands). NHS England is responsible for commissioning breast screening services to meet programme standards including coverage. NHS England is committed to improving coverage and reducing variation between all age groups and catchment areas.

Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the financial viability of Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England and NHS Improvement recently published shared planning guidance on 2 February 2018, in which it was announced that the resources available to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2018-19 will be increased by £1.4 billion. This will principally fund levels of emergency activity, additional elective activity needed to tackle waiting lists, universal adherence to the Mental Health Investment Standard and transformation commitments for cancer services and primary care. As a result of this, NHS Warrington CCG will receive an additional £2.3 million in 2018-19, bringing its allocation for core services to over £282 million, a cash terms growth of more than 3% compared to 2017-18.

Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of on the management of Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) of the Chief Officer of that CCG also acting as the Chief  Officer of Halton CCG.

Steve Brine: The management of Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Halton CCG is a matter for each individual CCG governing body, and they will ensure they have the most appropriate management structure in place to deliver their duties. NHS England is accountable for ensuring that the health services which both it and CCGs commission are high quality and deliver value for money. In March 2016, NHS England introduced a new Improvement and Assessment Framework for CCGs, which sets out that CCGs will be assessed against health outcomes and care quality as well as sustainability and transformation. Each CCG is rated as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. The latest overall rating for Warrington CCG and Halton CCG is that they both ‘Require Improvement’.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2018 to Question 132626, on Social Services: Minimum Wage, whether EU State Aid Rules allow the full provision of back-pay by the Government for sleep-in shifts.

Caroline Dinenage: It is crucially important that we ensure stability within the social care market; not just for vulnerable service users, but also for the many thousands of low paid workers. The Government is exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector. Discussions with the European Commission on whether any support that might be available could be granted legally within state aid rules are ongoing.

Blackburn and Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to Blackburn and Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in each of the last 5 years; and if he will make an assessment o the effect of changes to the level on that funding on the provision of treatments by that CCG.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England publishes clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations on its website. The published CCG allocations for NHS Blackburn and Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for the past five years for core services are set out in the table below. It should be noted that these figures are as published, and do not reflect any adjustments that may have occurred since the time of publication. The allocation of funding to local CCGs is informed by the estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on a set of funding formulae. This formulae produce a target allocation, or 'fair share' for each area, based on a complex assessment of factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas. NHS Blackburn and Darwen CCGAllocation (£000s)2013-14195,6482014-15199,8352015-16211,4092016-17217,8542017-18222,309

General Practitioners: Foreign Nationals

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the pledge by NHS England in July 2017 to hire 2000 extra GPs from abroad.

Steve Brine: A small number of pilot areas started recruitment in 2017. The next stage of the recruitment programme is on track to start at the end of 2017/18 as planned, with the aim of recruiting 600 doctors by the end of March 2019 and the remainder of the 2,000 by the end of March 2020. The plan is to recruit suitably qualified overseas doctors into English general practice. This will be carried out in a phased approach with recruitment initially focussing on the European Economic Area where doctors’ qualifications are automatically recognised by the General Medical Council.

General Practitioners: Early Retirement

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs retired before the age of 60 in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) administers the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales and has provided the following information regarding general practitioners (GPs) claiming their National Health Service pensions at retirement. This information is in respect of GPs claiming pension benefits from the 1995 Section of the NHS Pension Scheme which has a normal pension age of 60 and includes the vast majority of GPs currently retiring. This information relates to all GPs in England and Wales claiming their NHS pension before age 60 upon their first retirement from the NHS. Many GPs elect to return to the NHS in a non-pensionable capacity after claiming their NHS pension. The NHSBSA does not hold information regarding GPs who retire from the NHS in a non-pensionable capacity. YearGPs retired before age 60 in each year totalGPs who took Voluntary RetirementGPs who took Ill Health Retirement2009/10398324742010/11525443822011/12599513862012/13685591942013/14835746892014/158447381062015/16767677902016/1778472163* Note: *Some ill health pension applications are still under consideration by the NHSBSA. The NHSBSA are not in a position yet to provide any information for year 2017/18.

General Practitioners: Closures

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices have closed in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: The available data do not allow us to distinguish practices which have closed from practices which merged with neighbouring practices, in line with the strategic intent to provide primary care at scale and to create back-office efficiencies.

General Practitioners

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs there were per head of population in each English region in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: Comparisons between 2010 and 2017 are not possible due to changes in National Health Service geographies. Figures are for the NHS regional breakdown in place at each census date. For 2010 this is strategic health authority (SHA), and primary care trust (PCT) and for 2017, NHS Region, NHS Region (Local Office) and clinical commissioning group. In addition, 2010 figures are sourced from National Health Application and Infrastructure Services GP Payments (Exeter) System. 2017 figures are sourced from the workforce Minimum Dataset and include estimates for missing data. Therefore figures between the two years shown are not comparable. All practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars and locums) headcount per 100,000 population by English region as at September 2010RegionHeadcount per 100,000 populationEngland67.8Q30North East71.4Q31North West69.0Q32Yorkshire and the Humber68.2Q33East Midlands63.4Q34West Midlands66.2Q35East Of England63.0Q36London68.9Q37South East Coast66.0Q38South Central67.4Q39South West76.7  Source: NHS Digital All practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars and locums) headcount per 100,000 population by English region as at September 2017 RegionHeadcount per 100,000 populationEngland62.0 Y54North of England62.9Consisting of:Q72NHS England North (Yorkshire and Humber)62.8Q83NHS England North (Greater Manchester)60.6Q84NHS England North (Lancashire)59.3Q74NHS England North (Cumbria and North East)64.5Q75NHS England North (Cheshire and Merseyside)66.7Y55Midlands and East of England58.6Consisting of:Q76NHS England Midlands and East (North Midlands)59.6Q77NHS England Midlands and East (West Midlands)63.3Q78NHS England Midlands and East (Central Midlands)55.1Q79NHS England Midlands and East (East)57.5Y57South of England65.3Consisting of:Q80NHS England South (South West)73.7Q81NHS England South (South East)60.7Q82NHS England South (South Central)65.7Q70NHS England South (Wessex)62.9Y56London62.1Source: NHS Digital For the 2010 figures, it should be noted that some PCTs did not map directly to SHA geographies. For six SHAs, the sum of their PCTs populations will be slightly different to the population of the SHA individually. The responsibility for a PCT lies with only one SHA, but certain PCTs geographically straddled more than one SHA.The six SHAs that are affected by this are: North West SHA, Yorkshire and Humber SHA, East Midlands SHA, South East Coast SHA, South Central SHA and South West SHA.

Gambling: Addictions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many gambling addiction treatment services there are in England, where they are located and what plans his Department has to increase provision of those services.

Steve Brine: Information on the number of gambling addiction treatment services is not held centrally. The Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has a national problem gambling clinic which accepts referrals from all over the United Kingdom. Further details are available at the link: http://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/cnwl-national-problem-gambling-clinic/ GamCare, an industry funded national charity, also provides information, advice, support and free counselling for people with problem gambling. The Government has no plans to increase the number of these services.

Doctors: Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors were (a) trained to specialise in addiction services and (b) entered the addiction services workforce in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The table below shows how many doctors were trained to specialise in addiction services in each year since 2010 in England: Academic year ending in:Completers (substance misuse psychiatry specialty component, with a completion in general psychiatry)2010820111201232013020142201532016120174  Information on the number of doctors who work in addiction services is not held centrally. The historic medical expansion of 1,500 additional medical school places in England will help ensure the National Health Service has enough doctors to continue to provide safe, compassionate care in the future. As part of this expansion, five brand new medical schools have been announced, including Edge Hill University, University of Sunderland, Anglia Ruskin University, University of Lincoln and Canterbury Christ Church University. As part of the bidding process for the allocation of new medical school places, bids from universities were assessed against the following priorities:- widening participation and improving access so that the medical workforce is more representative of the population it serves;- aligning expansion to local NHS workforce need with an emphasis on priority geographical areas, including rural and coastal areas;- supporting general practice and other shortage specialties so that the NHS can deliver services required to meet patient need;- ensuring sufficient provision of high quality training and clinical placements; and- encouraging innovation and market liberalisation.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department requires each clinical commissioning group to publish a local transformation plan setting out children and young people’s mental health provision in each year until 2020-21; and how many clinical commissioning groups have published a plan covering 2017-18.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In 2015/16 local areas came together to develop joint agency local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental health. These were signed off by health and wellbeing boards and 123 plans were published covering the whole country. Local transformation plans are live documents that require refreshing and republishing on each clinical commissioning group’s website, at least annually. All clinical commissioning groups provided assurance via NHS England Regions that plans had been updated and republished for 2017/18 as part of routine planning processes.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to respond to the recent consultation on the Green Paper, Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We plan to publish a Government response to the consultation on the Green Paper ahead of summer recess.

Heroin

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many heroin-related (a) hospital admissions and (b) deaths there have been in the last five years.

Steve Brine: The table below shows the count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis and primary or secondary diagnosis of poisoning by heroin for the years 2012-13 to 2016-17. The table shows activity in English National Health Service Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. YearPrimary diagnosisPrimary or secondary diagnosis2012-131,2431,7812013-141,8272,4992014-152,2132,9742015-162,3423,1792016-172,0232,917Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital The number of deaths registered in England and Wales where heroin and/or morphine were mentioned on the death certificate are in the table below: YearNumber of deaths due to heroin and/or morphine20125792013765201495220151,20120161,209 These figures were published by the Office of National Statistics in the Statistical Bulletin Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales:2016 registrations (published August 2017) and are available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2016registrations

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust of February 2018 to a constituent of the hon. member for Christchurch, what steps he has taken in response to that letter's finding that there is a resource gap which will prevent the Trust achieving its performance targets.

Stephen Barclay: The funding of National Health Service ambulance trusts is a matter for local NHS commissioners. In conjunction with its lead commissioner South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is currently developing plans for 2018/19, including discussions about the levels of resourcing required to deliver national performance standards. Since 2014/15, funding provided to the trust has increased by nearly £7 million, and its paramedic workforce has increased by nearly 50 since 2016.

Diseases

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent WHO reports on Disease X.

Steve Brine: Disease X is a hypothetical infection used to represent the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease. Public Health England (PHE) has comprehensive systems in place to identify and monitor global outbreaks of infectious disease, including incidents where the cause is not identified or the outbreak is caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease such as World Health Organization’s hypothetical “Disease X”. Robust risk assessment processes exist to review threats to the United Kingdom population. As information emerges appropriate mitigation strategies will be implemented to protect the health of the UK public. The PHE National Emergency Response plans exist to deal with such event and have cross-Government agreement. The National Health Service-PHE High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) programme, initiated after the Ebola outbreak, has developed clinical and public health protocols and plans to provide a resilient HCID service for England. This will enable the NHS to deliver care safely and effectively for a wider range of known and unknown HCIDs.

Nurses: Training

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of applications to university nursing courses in England in the 2018 undergraduate cycle (a) by nursing discipline and (b) in each region of the country.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is not responsible for collecting data on the number of applications to study nursing degree courses. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service publishes data on the number of applications to full-time undergraduate courses. Further information and links to 2017 and 2018 application cycle data are available at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis

Eating Disorders

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2018 to Question 131891, what the timescale is for the development of the adult eating disorders care pathway and the associated implementation guidance; and what plans he has for the involvement of the voluntary sector in the development of that pathway.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In line with the recommendations of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, a key focus of NHS England’s work over the next five years (until 2020/21) will be to develop evidence-based treatment pathways across mental health services. Before NHS England can publish a pathway for adults with eating disorders it is necessary to understand the current availability of services, staffing and investment to assess the financial and workforce implications associated with closing the gap. The publication and implementation of any guidance on improving the pathway of care for adult with eating disorders is contingent on NHS England ensuring that the necessary resources including both funding and workforce are available to support that implementation. Therefore, as a first step, we have commissioned a review of the provision, investment and workforce for delivering eating disorder services for adults. This review looks across both inpatient and community services for adults. The voluntary sector including BEAT were involved in scoping the data collection associated with this review, and will be key partners in shaping the programme plan on adult eating disorders going forward. NHS England has introduced new care models for specialist mental health services, where a secondary provider is in receipt of NHS England’s budget for commissioning specialised tertiary services. There are two areas of the country with adult eating disorder services new care models (West Yorkshire and Harrogate; Thames Valley and Wessex). We expect that these areas will start to make important progress in both joining up the transition from young people to adults eating disorders services, and improving the treatment and care adults receive, as close to home as possible.

Addictions: Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to addiction services in each year since 2012.

Steve Brine: Responsibility for public health services, including for commissioning specialist drug and alcohol treatment services, addiction treatment, was transferred to local government in 2013. The table below shows actual spending on alcohol and drug treatment services for both adults and children since 2013. Financial yearAlcohol and Drug Treatment Service (£ million)2016/17£782 million2015/16£819 million2014/15£869 million2013/14£860 million There are no directly comparable figures for previous years, however in 2012/13 the treatment budget that allocated money for adult drug misuse treatment totalled around £570 million.

General Practitioners: ICT

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to GP practices to help with data migration when transitioning to new IT clinical systems.

Steve Brine: As independent contractors, individual general practitioner (GP) practices can choose any IT clinical system that best suits their needs from a range of four principal system suppliers approved by NHS Digital. While NHS Digital is responsible for the accreditation of any IT clinical system chosen by the GP practice, NHS England expects the supplier to assist GP practices with the migration of data from one system to another.

Hospital Beds

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of bed capacity in NHS hospitals.

Stephen Barclay: Bed availability and occupancy is rightly managed at a local level. Nationally, the National Health Service planned earlier than ever before to cope with winter this year when we know demand for beds increases. This was supported by an additional £337 million which included funding to make sure additional beds were made available to patients during heightened seasonal demand. Hospitals have a responsibility in ensuring that they are operating with the necessary beds available to support effective patient flow and safety.

Medical Records

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of patients' ability to access records held on them by hospitals; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold information regarding assessment of patients’ ability to access records held on them by hospitals.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in regard to the Mental Health Support Teams whose introduction is proposed in the Green Paper for Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health, who will (a) be included in Mental Health Support Teams proposed in the Green Paper for Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health and (b) train and supervise those staff.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Mental Health Support Teams will include additional trained staff and will operate between schools, colleges and specialist services. The teams will receive supervision from National Health Service mental health staff and we will test a range of models to understand how best the teams work with other relevant professionals, such as educational psychologists, school nurses, counsellors and voluntary and community sector organisations. We will announce further details around how the teams will be trained and work in due course.

Psychiatry: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many training places for child and adolescent psychiatry were unfilled in each year since 2010 in (a) the North West and (b) England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not hold this information. Information provided by Health Education England on the number of training places that, following recruitment, remained unfilled in the fourth year of child and adolescent psychiatry single specialty training in each year since 2013, in the North West and in England, is shown in the table below: Unfilled ST4 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry posts through recruitment North WestEngland2017111720169342015111820147282013325 National level data for the years prior to 2013 are not held centrally.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the additional funding for winter pressures was spent on mental health services in each year since 2013.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Autumn budget provided the National Health Service with an additional £337 million of winter funding. Of this, up to £18 million was allocated for mental health services, such as providing additional liaison mental health staff to relieve pressure on accident and emergency units by identifying patients in need of specialist treatment and referring them to more appropriate care more quickly. Specific funding for mental health services was not separately identified as part of winter funding for previous years, however these services will have benefitted from the provision of additional resources to support increased demand over the winter period.

Orkambi

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on access to Orkambi for people with cystic fibrosis.

Steve Brine: Departmental officials regularly discuss a range of matters with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, including the availability of Orkambi for the treatment of people with cystic fibrosis.

Cystic Fibrosis

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people suffer from cystic fibrosis in (a) Newcastle, (b) the north east of England and (c) England.

Steve Brine: This data is not available. However, cystic fibrosis is estimated to affect about 7,700 people in England (1 in 2,500 live births).

St Leonards Hospital

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date St Leonards Hospital, Ringwood, will close; what alternative patient accommodation will be available; and what the net change in the number of hospital beds in Dorset will be as a result of that closure.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England has advised that the decision to close St Leonard’s Community Hospital has been made as part of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG’s) Clinical Service Review (CSR). The CSR is intended to address sustainability issues in the county through reconfiguration of acute services and development of an integrated out-of-hospital model. More information on the CSR is available at: http://www.dorsetsvision.nhs.uk In September 2017, NHS Dorset CCG’s Governing Body agreed the proposed CSR changes to health and care services in Dorset. Dorset CCG has advised that community beds will not be closed until the CCG is satisfied that suitable alternative provision has been made in the system. This will be sometime in 2018, although no firm date has been set.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Financial Services

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with (a) the UK financial services sector and (b) multilateral financial institutions on the (i) development and (ii) issue of catastrophe bonds as a tool for mitigating catastrophic risk for developing countries.

Alistair Burt: DFID has had strong engagement with the UK financial services sector on the disaster risk financing agenda, for example through the Insurance Development Forum (IDF). The Centre for Global Disaster Protection, recently set up by DFID, has run an Innovation Lab in partnership with the UK financial services sector, which explored the use of innovative risk transfer instruments, including catastrophe bonds, to support building back disaster affected infrastructure to be more resilient. DFID works closely in partnership with the World Bank on the disaster risk financing agenda – and the World Bank has worked with catastrophe bonds in Mexico, and underpinned the new Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility with a bond. Catastrophe bonds serve as one of a suite of financial tools the World Bank offers to support developing countries mitigate catastrophic risk from disasters.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the resignation of the Burmese President, Htin Kyaw, on her Department's programmes in Burma.

Alistair Burt: We determine that President Htin Kyaw’s resignation will not have any impact on DFID’s operations in Burma.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to protect Rohingya women and girls from sexual violence in refugee camps in Bangladesh .

Alistair Burt: We recognise the immediate need to increase the provision of protection services in the Rohingya refugee camps. DFID is leading the way in supporting a range of organisations providing specialised help to survivors of sexual violence. We are supporting 25 women’s centres, which are providing safe space, psychosocial support and activities to women and girls. We are also funding case management for over 2,000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her Bangladeshi counterpart on the emergency relocation of Rohingya refugees living in shelters most at risk from monsoon rains and cyclones; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Given the severe humanitarian impact that heavy rains and cyclones could have on Rohingya refugees, we have been urging the Government of Bangladesh and partners to prepare for the forthcoming heavy rains. The Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development wrote to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 20 March, calling to attention the need to reduce the density of shelters in the camps, and provide options for people to move to land that is at a lower risk of flooding.

Department for Education

Aviation: Vacancies

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the skills shortage in the general aviation sector; and what steps his Department is taking to address that shortage.

Anne Milton: The department recently conducted the latest Employer Skills Survey, which provides robust assessments of skills shortages across the UK by region and by sector. The results of this survey will be published later in 2018 and will provide insight into different industries’ skill needs. Whilst we cannot identify General Aviation specifically through the survey, data relating to the aviation sector as a whole will be made available to the public. Findings from the previous Employer Skills Survey in 2015, which was run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, are available on GOV.UK. The department also holds responsibility for Working Futures, which provides labour market projections at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-labour-market-projections-2014-to-2024. The department is also making our skills system more responsive to employer needs. As part of this, the department is forming Skills Advisory Panels, which aim to bring about a closer alignment between skills supply (from FE Colleges, training providers, apprenticeships, as well as centrally-held programmes) and local employer demand.

Department for Education: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Anne Milton: The department has raised the following income from the sale of assets over the last seven financial years. Financial yearAmount (£)  2016-1714,316,264.382015-161,131,818.042014-150.002013-14410.532012-13395.892011-12669.172010-110.00 The department does not split the data between the different categories requested, and we have yet to come to the end of the 2017-18 financial year so no monies for the current financial year have been reported in this reply.

Higher Education: Admissions

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that prospective undergraduates understand the potential effect of their choice of course on their prospects post-graduation.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department is working to make destinations and outcomes data more accessible to prospective students, to help them compare opportunities and make informed choices about where and what to study. On the 12 March 2018, I announced an Open Data Competition. It will use government data on higher education providers so that tech companies and coders can create websites to help prospective students decide where to apply. This competition will build on the government’s Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) dataset, which gives information on employment and salaries after graduation. Alongside this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has requested that the Office for Students include LEO data on the Unistats website as soon as possible.

Special Educational Needs: Vocational Guidance

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve careers advice for pupils with special educational needs.

Anne Milton: The government’s careers strategy, published in December 2017, sets out a long-term plan to build a careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them.The careers strategy contains a number of proposals to improve careers advice for pupils with special educational needs, including:A good practice guide for schools and colleges by The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and the Gatsby Foundation.Funding for the Education and Training Foundation to provide professional development for practitioners working with these young people.Funding for training and materials for post-16 providers to help them design and tailor study programmes which offer a pathway to employment for these learners.Training for Enterprise Advisers (senior volunteers from business who support schools with their careers programme) so they are confident helping people with special educational needs and disabilities. Later this year we will be funding grants to establish good practice in innovative ways of working with young people with special educational needs and their parents to inspire them to look at a broader range of careers and further education options.

Breakfast Clubs: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release, Funding boost to give more children healthy start to the day, published on 19th March 2018, whether the funding announced is additional to the £26 million of funding allocated for breakfast club provision in the tender published by his Department on 23 October 2017.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release, Funding boost to give more children healthy start to the day, published on 19 March 2018, how much of that funding will be spent in each of the next three years.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release, Funding boost to give more children healthy start to the day, published on 19 March 2018, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children that will benefit from the funding.

Nadhim Zahawi: The funding announced on the 19 March 2018 reflects that stated in the breakfast club tender, which was published on the 23 October 2017. We are investing up to £26 million in a breakfast club programme, using funds from Soft Drinks Industry Levy revenues. This money will kick-start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,770 schools, with a focus on increasing provision for disadvantaged pupils. This investment will be targeted at the most disadvantaged areas of the country – including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Further details about the funding split over the duration of the programme will be available in due course. We do not have an estimate of the number of children that will benefit from this funding as we do not yet know which schools will participate in the programme.

Schools: Northumberland

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals for school closures in West Northumberland on the provision of schooling in that area.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities (LAs) are under a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient schools in their area to meet the needs of the local population. This includes reviewing provision where populations have grown or declined. Where LAs have identified surplus capacity and/or the need to reorganise schools in their area, they have the power to close all categories of maintained school.The LA must follow a well established statutory process when considering the closure of a school. This process includes a consultation period to allow those affected by the proposal to submit their views and comments.Northumberland County Council is currently carrying out an informal consultation to seek views on a number of proposed options for the reorganisation of education provision in the west of the county.Ultimately, it is the LA who makes the decision about whether or not to close a school, and the department has no direct role in the decision-making process.

Schools: Governing Bodies

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school governors England are BAME.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information is not held centrally.

Schools: Finance

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities have made an application to his Department to move funds from the schools block to the high needs block in 2018-19.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the outcome has been of each application that local authorities have made to his Department to move funds from the schools block to the high needs block in 2018-19.

Nick Gibb: For the funding year 2018/19, the Department received 44 requests from local authorities to move funding from the schools block to the high needs block. A number of these requests were subsequently withdrawn by the local authorities and decisions were made on 27 requests. The list below details the 27 local authorities who have made this request and the outcome of each decision. Local Authority OutcomeBarnsleyFull request not allowed, partial approval providedBath and North East SomersetNot allowedBoltonAllowedBournemouthRevised request allowedBristolAllowedBromleyAllowedDerbyNot allowedDorsetNot allowedHackneyNot allowedHammersmith and FulhamNot allowedHartlepoolAllowedHillingdonNot allowedKingston upon HullNot allowedKingston upon ThamesFull request not allowed, partial approval providedLambethNot allowedMiddlesbroughAllowedNorth SomersetAllowedNorthumberlandAllowedOldhamRevised request allowedPooleAllowedRotherhamNot allowedSouth GloucestershireAllowedSouthwarkAllowedThurrockAllowedTraffordAllowedWest SussexAllowedWokinghamNot allowed

Apprentices: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of people undertaking paid apprenticeships in Coventry South constituency.

Anne Milton: The information on the number of learners starting apprenticeships by geographical area, including by parliamentary constituency, is published on GOV.UK. The table below provides apprenticeship starts for the Coventry South Constituency in the 2016/17 academic year and in the first quarter of the 2017/18 academic year: 2016/172017/18 Quarter 1Apprenticeship Starts920190 Notes: 1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.2) 2016/17 covers August 2016 to July 2017, and 2017/18 Quarter 1 covers August to October 2017.3) 2017/18 Quarter 1 is reported to date and will be subject to revision. Additionally, statistics showing the destinations outcomes of learners completing apprenticeships between 2014 and 2015 are available in the ‘Further Education outcome-based success measures’ publication:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-outcome-based-success-measures-2014-to-2015.

Schools: Collective Worship

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to take steps against schools which are in breach of their statutory duties in relation to the act of collective worship; and will he make a statement.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for East Ham to the answer I gave on 22 March 2018 to Questions 133192, 133193, 133194, 133195, 133198.

Religion: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number and proportion of (a) maintained primary schools, (b) maintained secondary schools, (c) academies, (d) free schools and (e) sixth form colleges in England which do not fulfill the legal requirement to provide religious education in the school curriculum.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) his Department and (b) other public bodies have commissioned research into the practices of schools in relation to their statutory obligation to provide religious education since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have been reported to his Department for non-compliance with the statutory obligation to provide religious education in each academic years since 2010-11.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is in the event of a school being found to be in breach of its statutory obligation to provide religious education in the curriculum; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Religious Education (RE) is compulsory for all state-funded schools, including academies and free schools, at all key stages. The Department investigates complaints made about schools not fulfilling their statutory duties in respect of RE. The Department does not gather data on schools’ level of compliance with the requirement. One formal complaint was made to the Department about a school’s non-compliance with its statutory duties in respect of RE in the period since 2010-2011. Faith schools are required to arrange a separate inspection of denominational religious education and collective worship, leading to published reports. Ofsted does not inspect individual curriculum subjects, but is required to report on whether the curriculum offered by the school is broad and balanced and promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. If an individual is concerned that a school is not meeting its duty to provide religious education they should follow that school’s complaint procedure in the first instance. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit for maintained schools, or the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, free schools, university technical colleges or studio schools. Information about complaint procedures for schools can be found at www.gov.uk/complain-about-school. My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education has a range of powers to ensure schools comply with their statutory obligations. The powers used will depend on the nature of the statutory duty in question and the potential impact of any failure to comply. These powers include a direction under section 497 of the Education Act 1996, a performance and standards warning notice under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and a referral to Ofsted for an inspection. Where academies are subject to the same statutory duties as maintained schools, the Secretary of State has powers to enforce compliance via the terms of the funding agreement.

Students: Loans

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the written ministerial statement of 31 October 2017 on government asset sale, HCWS205, what methodology his Department used to decide which loans from the plan 1 loan book would be sold.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The loans sold in December 2017 were a selection of loans from the plan 1 loan book issued by English Local Authorities that entered repayment between 2002 and 2006. These loans had the longest history of repayments, the longest servicing history and the most accurate data on borrowers’ historic earnings. This information allowed the government to most accurately value these loans for sale. The government’s objective when issuing loans to students is to allow them to pursue their education regardless of their personal financial situation. Once this objective has been met, however, retaining the loans on the government’s balance sheet serves no policy purpose. These loans could be sold precisely because they have achieved their original policy objective of supporting students to access higher education. Pursuant to Section 4 of the Sale of Student Loans Act 2008, a report on the sale arrangements was deposited in the House libraries on 7 December 2017 (deposit reference DEP2017-0778): https://www.parliament.uk/depositedpapers.

Students: Loans

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the written ministerial statement of 6 December 2017 on government asset sale, HCWS317,what assessment his Department has made of the lost fee income to the Exchequer from the loans sold in each year of their repayment period.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the written statement of 6 December 2017 on Government Asset Sake, HCWS317, what assessment he has made of the net fiscal effect of the sale of the student loan book after accounting for reduced income arising from lost repayments.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government only sells assets when it can secure value for money for taxpayers from doing so. In assessing the value for money of the sale, the government took into account repayments foregone on the loans sold. In executing the sale, we achieved a price that exceeded the retention value of the loans sold, calculated in line with standard HM Treasury green book methodology. Selling financial assets, like student loans, where there is no policy reason to retain them, where value for money can be secured and where borrowers are not impacted is sound asset management. The sale ensures government resources are being put to best use and is an important part of our plan to repair public finances. Pursuant to Section 4 of the Sale of Student Loans Act 2008, a report on the sale arrangements was deposited in the House libraries on 7 December 2017 (deposit reference DEP2017-0778): https://www.parliament.uk/depositedpapers.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his oral contribution of 19 March 2018, Official Report, column 8, on Social Mobility, what estimate he has made of the number of two-year-old children who would be eligible for the free childcare entitlement (a) if the transitional arrangements remained in place and (b) under the new threshold.

Nadhim Zahawi: Under the new annual net earned income threshold of £15,400, it is estimated that by 2023 around 7,000 more children will benefit from the two-year-old entitlement compared to the previous benefits system.

Department for Education: Communication Trust

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education of 19 March 2018, Official Report, column 22, for what reason the whole-workforce training was not put in place before the decision not to renew his Department's contract with The Communications Trust was made.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department’s one year contract with The Communication Trust (TCT) was awarded last Spring following a competitive exercise. The letter awarding the contract made it clear the department did not intend to extend the contract beyond March 2018. As part of the contract, TCT were required to develop a sustainability plan, which set out how the work would be sustained beyond the life of the contract. The department started the procurement process for a new SEND school workforce contract in December 2017 to enable the contract to be in place from April 2018. This is in line with government procurement standards.

Social Mobility Commission

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the remit of the Social Mobility Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The role and remit of the Social Mobility Commission is set out in legislation. We believe that the Commission under current legislation is able to act as an effective advocate for social mobility, and advise government, educators, employers and others on how best to tackle this important issue. There are no current plans to change the remit of the Commission.

Social Mobility Commission: Publications

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who has the duty to publish a report on behalf of the Social Mobility Commission for each financial year in the absence of any commissioners; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The duty to publish a report is for the Social Mobility Commission. To enable the Social Mobility Commission to report on the progress made towards improving social mobility, the department has begun the recruitment process for a new Chair and we will look to recruit new Commissioners in due course, following standard Public Appointment procedures.

Schools: Asbestos

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the removal of asbestos from the schools estate.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of asbestos in school buildings; what steps his Department is taking to (a) manage the presence of asbestos in school buildings and (b) assess the suitability and safety of school buildings that contain asbestos.

Nick Gibb: The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely.The Department carried out a voluntary asbestos data collection of schools in 2016, and of the 5,592 schools that responded, 83.1% reported that asbestos was present. The Department is following expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that, as long as asbestos containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be managed in situ. The blanket and accelerated removal of asbestos in schools is potentially more dangerous and greater risk to pupils and staff. Asbestos will be removed over time as refurbishment works take place, and as school buildings are replaced though programmes like Priority Schools Building Programme. The Department is currently running the Asbestos Management Assurance Process (AMAP) and expects Responsible Bodies for State-Funded Schools and Academies to participate in the AMAP. The Department intends to develop a fuller understanding of how asbestos in managed in the education estate through the AMAP.

Students: Loans

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the value of plan 1 student loans that will not be repaid.

Mr Sam Gyimah: It is estimated that the value of the plan 1 student loan book that will not be repaid was £13.1 billion as at 31 March 2017, when future repayments are valued in present terms. The face value of the plan 1 student loan book was £42.8 billion at this time. This information is in the public domain and published on page 155 of the Department for Education’s 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts which can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2016-to-2017.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132418 on Children: Day Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of children that are not eligible for the 30 hours of tax free childcare as a result of a household income being (a) too high and (b) too low.

Nadhim Zahawi: 30 hours free childcare is available to working parents of three and four year olds and eligibility is based on parental income. A three or four year old is eligible for 30 hours free childcare if both their parents, or the sole parent in a lone parent family, expects to earn a weekly minimum equivalent to working 16 hours at national minimum or living wage and under £100,000 a year. We estimate that 58% of three and four year olds are not eligible for 30 hours because either only one of their parents is employed or because their parent(s) do not meet the required minimum income threshold. We estimate that less than 1% of three and four year olds are not eligible, even though both parents are employed and meet the required minimum threshold, because at least one of their parents expects to earn £100,000 or more per year.

Apprentices: Taxation

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 4.84 of Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2018, published by the Office for Budget Responsibility, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the revised down forecast of receipts from the apprenticeship levy; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of the apprenticeship levy has no impact on the department’s budget for apprenticeships between now and 2020. The department has a ring-fenced apprenticeship budget which has been set regardless of how much levy receipts are each year. Our planned investment in apprenticeships remains the same with over £2.45 billion to be invested in apprenticeships in England by 2019-20 - double what was spent in 2010-11.

Supply Teachers: Expenditure

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the total spending by (a) maintained schools and (b) academies on supply teachers in each of the last five financial years.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the total amount spent by (a) maintained schools and (b) academies on agency supply staff in each of the last five financial years.

Nick Gibb: This information is already in the public domain. The Department publishes the amount spent by schools on supply teaching staff and agency supply teaching staff (as well as costs and receipts from supply teacher insurance) annually for:Local authority maintained schools on the Department’s School and College Performance website: https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables available for 2010-11 to 2016-17; andAcademies in the department’s Statistical First Release ‘Income and expenditure in academies in England’: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-local-authority-school-finance-data#academy-spending available since 2011/12, when they were first collected in this format, up to 2015/16. Data for 2016/17 will published in the summer of 2018.

Home Education: Assessments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that children educated at home are required to sit all national tests sat by children in schools.

Anne Milton: There is no requirement for home educated children to sit national tests. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 requires parents to make sure that their child receives an efficient, full-time education which is suitable to the age, ability and aptitudes of the child, and any special educational needs. Parents have wide discretion as to the content of that education and how it is taught. They are not required to follow the National Curriculum, to which the key stage tests are linked. Children attending school are not legally required to sit the national key stage tests, although most children in state-funded schools and some independent schools do take them.

Apprentices: Birkenhead

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been (a) raised in apprenticeship levy in Birkenhead and (b) successfully reclaimed by firms to train apprentices.

Anne Milton: Information on the apprenticeship levy collected by HM Treasury and successfully reclaimed by firms is not available in the format requested. The majority of levy-paying employers operate across multiple geographical areas which means we cannot reasonably attribute the levy collected to individual locations within the UK. In England, these employers are free to spend their apprenticeship funding wherever they wish, in locations that best meet the skills needs of the business. We publish regular statistics on apprenticeships here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-february-2018. These reflect the way that the levy is collected and spent.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral answer of 19 March 2018, on the National Funding Formula, Official Report, column 5, what the evidential basis is for his statement that real-term funding is increasing.

Nick Gibb: The Department has made a significant investment, providing an additional £1.3 billion across 2018/19 and 2019/20, over existing plans. In 2019/20, total funding in the core schools budget will be more than 6% higher than in 2017/18. Over the same period, the GDP deflator is estimated to be 3.1%. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that overall across the country funding per pupil will now be maintained in real terms up to 2020.

Religion: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what powers he has to require or encourage (a) academies, (b) maintained community schools and (c) schools with a religious character to fulfill the statutory obligation to provide religious education in the curriculum.

Nick Gibb: Legislation in funding agreements require all state funded schools to deliver religious education. If an individual is concerned that a school is not meeting its duty to provide religious education they should follow that school’s complaints procedure in the first instance. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit for maintained schools, or the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, free schools, university technical colleges or studio schools. Information about complaint procedures for schools can be found at www.gov.uk/complain-about-school. My Rt Hon. friend The Secretary of State has a range of powers to ensure schools comply with their statutory obligations. The exact powers used will depend on the nature of the statutory duty in question and the potential impact of any failure to comply. The powers used could include a direction under section 497 of the Education Act 1996, a performance and standards warning notice under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and a referral to Ofsted for an inspection. Where academies are subject to the same statutory duties as maintained schools, the Secretary of State has powers to enforce compliance via the terms of the funding agreement.

Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of whether local Standing Advisory Committees for RE are adequately resourced to discharge their statutory responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Government is continuing to provide local authorities with funding for Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) through the Central School Service Block from 2018/19 onwards. Local authorities are expected to ensure that SACREs are funded adequately to perform their duties. SACREs continue to play an important role in supporting schools to teach high-quality religious education.

Education Welfare Officers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Government is providing for welfare officers in schools.

Nick Gibb: Education Welfare Officers (or School Attendance Officers) are employed by local authorities or schools. The local authority or school will prescribe the responsibilities of the role. Any support required for the individual to fulfil that role will be provided by the school or local authority.

Teachers: Vacancies

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of teacher vacancies in (a) maths, (b) music and (c) science in secondary schools in each English region.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the number of full-time classroom teacher vacancies and temporarily filled posts[1] for maths, music and science subjects in state funded secondary schools in each region in England, as at November 2016. November 2017 figures will be available in the summer. MathsMusicScienceNorth East10-10North West40-30Yorkshire and the Humber30-30East Midlands30-30West Midlands30-50East of England40-50Inner London20-30Outer London30-60South East40-70South West10-20Total England28020380Source: School Workforce CensusFigures have been rounded to nearest 10.’-‘ nil or negligible. [1] Includes advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term’s duration) plus vacancies filled on a temporary basis by a teacher on a contract of less than one year.

Pupils: Mental Health

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support mindfulness for pupils in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: We believe that it is for schools to decide what pastoral support to offer their pupils as they know them best. The department carried out a survey of school mental health provision (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-mental-health-in-schools-and-colleges) which found that 73% of schools offer sessions covering topics such as coping skills, problem-solving or mindfulness. The survey also indicated that schools need more information about evidence-based approaches to supporting mental wellbeing that work in a school setting. In January 2017, my Rt hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced a programme of randomised control trials of school-based interventions to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. One of the trials, which commenced in August 2017, will involve approaches to promoting wellbeing in primary and secondary schools, including exercises, routines, and mindfulness. We will consider how best to provide schools with the outcomes of these projects and a range of other piloting and trial activity.

Ministry of Justice

Immigration: Appeals

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was for processing immigration appeals in 2016-2017.

Lucy Frazer: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The average time taken to clear a casean immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in 2016-2017 was 4651 weeks. The average time taken to clear a case in 2015-2016 was 4635 weeks.The average clearance time, which is measured from receipt of an appeal to its conclusion, went up between 2015-16 and 2016-17 because of the Tribunal significantly reducing its outstanding caseload and clearing older cases during that period. Outstanding caseload has now reduced from 64,800 in June 2016 to 35,100 at the end of December 2017.Immigration includes Managed Migration, Entry Clearance Officer, Human Rights, EEA Free Movement Family Visit Visa, Deportation and Deprivation of Citizenship Appeals.Published average clearance times are not routinely broken down by appeal type and could not be provided in the time available.

Lucy Frazer: The average time taken to clear a casean immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in 2016-2017 was 4651 weeks. The average time taken to clear a case in 2015-2016 was 4635 weeks.The average clearance time, which is measured from receipt of an appeal to its conclusion, went up between 2015-16 and 2016-17 because of the Tribunal significantly reducing its outstanding caseload and clearing older cases during that period. Outstanding caseload has now reduced from 64,800 in June 2016 to 35,100 at the end of December 2017.Immigration includes Managed Migration, Entry Clearance Officer, Human Rights, EEA Free Movement Family Visit Visa, Deportation and Deprivation of Citizenship Appeals.Published average clearance times are not routinely broken down by appeal type and could not be provided in the time available.

Immigration: Appeals

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was for processing immigration appeals during 2015-2016.

Lucy Frazer: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The average time taken to clear a casean immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in 2016-2017 was 4651 weeks. The average time taken to clear a case in 2015-2016 was 4635 weeks.The average clearance time, which is measured from receipt of an appeal to its conclusion, went up between 2015-16 and 2016-17 because of the Tribunal significantly reducing its outstanding caseload and clearing older cases during that period. Outstanding caseload has now reduced from 64,800 in June 2016 to 35,100 at the end of December 2017.Immigration includes Managed Migration, Entry Clearance Officer, Human Rights, EEA Free Movement Family Visit Visa, Deportation and Deprivation of Citizenship Appeals.Published average clearance times are not routinely broken down by appeal type and could not be provided in the time available.

Lucy Frazer: The average time taken to clear a casean immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in 2016-2017 was 4651 weeks. The average time taken to clear a case in 2015-2016 was 4635 weeks.The average clearance time, which is measured from receipt of an appeal to its conclusion, went up between 2015-16 and 2016-17 because of the Tribunal significantly reducing its outstanding caseload and clearing older cases during that period. Outstanding caseload has now reduced from 64,800 in June 2016 to 35,100 at the end of December 2017.Immigration includes Managed Migration, Entry Clearance Officer, Human Rights, EEA Free Movement Family Visit Visa, Deportation and Deprivation of Citizenship Appeals.Published average clearance times are not routinely broken down by appeal type and could not be provided in the time available.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what contracts for consultancy services (a) his Department and (b) his Department's arms length bodies agreed in 2017; what the value of each of those contract is; who the signatories to those contracts are; what the performance measures relating to each of those contract are; to which geographic areas the delivery of those contracts relate; what the terms of those contracts are; how many people are employed by those contract providers to deliver those contracts; and if he will place copies of those contracts in the Library.

Rory Stewart: Please see below table which outlines contracts that have been awarded within 2017, the data includes which area of The Ministry of Justice the work is for and the contract value. The remaining information requested can be located on the contracts which are published on Contracts Finder. None of our contracts are published in the Library as we publish on Contracts Finder.TitleSupplierContract ValueBusiness AreaThe Provision of support to MOJ Electronic Monitoring ProjectPA Consulting£1,193,269HMPPSMoJ Consolidated Accounts including MoJ Estates FinanceAllen Lane Consulting£944,538.00MOJMOJ Agency AccountsAllen Lane Consulting£663,687.00LAA + NOMSProbation System Review- Assurance ReviewErnst and Young£148,264.00HMPPSElectronic Monitoring SupportPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£76,292.00HMPPSPETP - PF2 SupportErnst and Young£40,000.00HMPPSCCMD Estates Consultancy SupportPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£95,230.00HMPPSPrison Safety and Reform Portfolio ConsultancyKPMG LLP£1,360,825.00MOJSAMP - Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP)Ernst and Young£149,710.00MOJHR Employee Value Proposition ServicesQ5 Partners£99,475.00MOJData Analytical support for the Probation System Review.PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£188,600.00HMPPSFITS Programme Management OfficeCapita£795,000.00HMCTSHR Transformation ServiceCertus Solutions£339,540.00HMPPSG4S Healthcare AuditPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£45,000 - £100,000MOJCPP Support - HMCTSPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£80,500.00HMCTSHMPPS TransitionQ5 Partners£99,000.00HMPPSPolicy and Control Frameworks and Supplier Risk ManagementDeloitte£497,985.00MOJ & ALB'sReview of MOJ Diversity and InclusionGreen Park£85,500.00MOJOffender Management Work PackageAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMPPSLAA FinanceAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00LAALAA Finance and IT Work PackageAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00LAAEstates and IT Work PackageAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00MOJHMCTS Reform - Financial Modelling, reporting and advocacy with external stakeholdersAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMCTS ReformHMCTS Reform - Strategic Finance delivery advice and benefits managementAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMCTS ReformHMCTS Reform - Business Case expertise and financial advice to property work streamAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMCTS ReformHMCTS Financial Planning an IncomeAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMCTSHMCTS TCEP Programme Work PackageAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00HMCTSSOCA - Consultancy SupportDeloitte£66,152.00HMPPSSRM Programme Development and ImplementationState Of Flux£87,150.00MOJMOJ transformationErnst and Young£134,670.00MOJMOJ Group Finance Work Package - CCMDAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00MOJMOJ Group Finance Work Package - Strategic PrioritiesAllen Lane Consulting£1,000,000.00MOJProject WallabyErnst and Young£200,000.00MOJDevelopment and Delivery of FM Client Unit Learning and Development ProgrammeConcerto Partners LLP£129,915.00MOJRecruitment and Data Analytical Consultancy Services for PORRKPMG LLP£229,800.00HMPPSProgramme Management Support to Global BritainKPMG LLP£28,000.00MOJCDS Commercial Claim and Open BookPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP£120,000.00HMPPSP3M3 SupportAspire Europe£15,000.00MOJVirtual Hearing ProjectLSE Enterprise Ltd£20,000.00HMCTS - ReformJustice 2030 Horizon Scanning ProjectKPMG LLP£83,600.00MOJMOJ Inquisitive Culture Review and Strategy ImplementationIntegritte Limited£590,387.50MOJProvision of People Change ServicesPA Consulting£500,000.00HMCTS ReformConsultancy support for Project AthensPWC LLP£200,000.00HMPPSLammy Recommendations ImplementationB Thompson Consultancy Ltd£70,000.00HMPPS

Probation Hostels

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the budget for probation hostels has been in each year since 1 June 2014.

Rory Stewart: Approved Premises (AP), formerly known as probation & bail hostels, are accommodation approved for the supervision or rehabilitation of persons convicted of offences, or persons granted bail in criminal proceedings. In financial year 2017-18 the National Probation Service (NPS) budget for the 89 AP it manages in England and Wales is £68.8 million. This covers operational costs, including staffing and security. The equivalent figure for 2016-17 was £60.7 million. As NPS budgets from 2014-2016 did not identify AP expenditure as an individual item, the equivalent figure for those years is not available. Rent, rates, maintenance and utilities costs for AP are met by Ministry of Justice Estates. In 2016-17, these costs were £17.5 million. Verified figures for the current year are not yet available. There are also 11 independent AP in England. The contract value for these in 2017-18 is £7.4 million.

Courts: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days of court time have been lost in each court due to unscheduled maintenance becoming necessary in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested is not held centrally.

Ministry of Justice: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The UK Government is a significant landowner. The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's vision to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose and sustainable estate whose performance matches the best of the private sector. As a Government we are delivering this vision, ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose, is frequently reviewed and aligned to the Estate Strategy, and is managed in an efficient and effective way.The money raised by the Ministry of Justice from land and buildings in each year since 2010 are shown in the table below. This is typically recorded as a combined dataset, so is not split into (a) land and (b) buildings. The information is correct at time of publication. Sales of other assets could encompass a wide range of items. Information on the money raised by the Ministry of Justice from selling assets therefore cannot be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost. YearProceeds from sale of land and buildings (£)2010/1179,301,2662011/1261,541,7692012/1349,700,4482013/1459,436,3502014/1565,689,8782015/1630,579,5072016/1723,269,277Total369,518,495

Young Offenders

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many young offenders aged (a) 15-17 and (b) 18-20 years old are in each young offenders institution in England and Wales; and how many in each such age group at each such institution are identified as having speech, language or communications needs.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) full-time and (b part-ime speech and language therapists are employed to provide services for each young offenders institution in England and Wales; and how many hours of service provision are scheduled at each such institution each week.

Dr Phillip Lee: The table below shows how many young people (under 18) are in each Young Offender Institution (YOI) in England and Wales:  Year ending MarchUnder 18 YOI201620172018(1)Cookham Wood135136144Feltham129124133Parc494542Werrington10110095Wetherby242225219Total656630632Notes:There data are provisional. The 2017/18 figures will be finalised in the 2017/18 Youth Justice Statistics which will be published in January 2019. The 2017/18 figures are based on 10 monthly snapshots (Apr-17 to Jan-18) only.These figures are averages of 12 monthly snapshots of the custodial population in the secure estate for children and young people, taken on the last Friday of the month or first Friday of the following month, depending on which is nearer to the actual month end.These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time. The table below shows how many young adults (18 -20 years old) are in each YOI in England and Wales. 18 - 21 dedicated YOIsAs at 31 December 2017Aylesbury313Cookham Wood29Deerbolt315Feltham325Werrington11Wetherby28Total1,021 Notes:The data in the table is drawn from a different administrative IT system. Like any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.There are a number of young adults (turned 18) in the under 18 YOIs who are awaiting transition to the adult estate. In the Children and Young People Secure Estate (under 18s), speech and language therapy is integrated into the overall commissioning of health services. We are committed to supporting all young offenders in custody and provide a range of services for children with special educational needs. Within the under 18 YOIs, each establishment has a Special Educational Needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and a team of LSA’s (Learning Support Assistants) to support the young people. The Senco keeps a register of young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, including their individual needs, and shares the information with the establishment. All young people have Individual Learning Plans set up and reviewed by the education provider, regardless of whether they receive mainstream or outreach education. We do not collect data centrally relating to speech, language or communication needs.

Young Offender Institutions: Crimes of Violence

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) violent incidents and (b) assaults on prison staff have been recorded for each young offenders institution in England and Wales in the last twelve months.

Dr Phillip Lee: (a) Data on the number and types of incidents that occur in under-18 young offender institutions is published in the quarterly Safety in Custody bulletin. This does not include a single category of ‘violent incidents’. The latest published figures for under-18 Young Offender Institutions covers the years 2007 to Dec 2017 and is contained in the link below. The next quarterly figures will be published in April 2018.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-update-to-september-2017 (b) The table below shows the latest data available (2016) on the number of assaults and serious assaults on staff within the under 18 Young Offender Institutions. Data for 2017 will be published in April 2018.  Cookham WoodFelthamParcWerringtonWetherbyNo of Assaults on staff12618224513897No of serious assaults on staff932211023 Note : An assault is classified as serious if it : is a sexual assault, results in detention in outside hospital as an inpatient, requires medical treatment for concussion or internal injuries or the injury is a fracture, scald or burn, stabbing, crushing, extensive or multiple bruising, black eye, broken nose, lost or broken tooth, cuts requiring suturing or similar treatment, bites, or temporary or permanent blindness. Data for Feltham and Parc includes young adults as they are split sites.

Magistrates

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates are serving in England and Wales; and how many of those magistrates were so serving in March in each of the last five years.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates serving in England and Wales are (a) from an ethnic minority and (b) aged (i) 21-30, (ii) 31-40, (iii) 41-50, (iv) 51-60 and (v) over 60 years old.

Lucy Frazer: The number of magistrates serving as at 1 April 2017 in England and Wales can be found in the Judicial Diversity Statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/judicial-diversity-statistics-2017--2. The information requesting how many of those magistrates currently serving in these areas were serving in March in each of the last five years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The number of magistrates serving in England and Wales as at 1 April in the last five years can be found in the Judicial Diversity Statistics Archive at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/?filter_type=publication&search=&tax-single-subject=171&tax-single-publication-type=169&tax-single-publication-jurisdiction=-1&date-range-after=&date-range-before The number of serving magistrates in England and Wales by (a) ethnic minority and (b) by age category is also available in the public domain and can be accessed via the links provided above. The published data covers the period up to 1st April 2017. We plan to publish data which covers the period up to 1st April 2018 in July.

Magistrates: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of magistrates serving (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry; and how many of those magistrates were serving in March in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: The number of magistrates serving as at 1 April 2017 in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry can be found in the Judicial Diversity Statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/judicial-diversity-statistics-2017--2. The number of magistrates serving in these areas as at 1 April in the last five years can be found in the Judicial Diversity Statistics Archive at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/?filter_type=publication&search=&tax-single-subject=171&tax-single-publication-type=169&tax-single-publication-jurisdiction=-1&date-range-after=&date-range-before The information requesting how many of those magistrates currently serving in these areas were serving in March in each of the last five years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The published data covers the period up to 1st April 2017. We plan to publish data which covers the period up to 1st April 2018 in July.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the satisfaction levels of claimants during the tribunal stage of the Personal Independence Payments claims process in each of the last two years.

Lucy Frazer: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does collect data on various types of issue that may be disputed in an appeal before the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS). These include entitlement to, or rate of payment of, a particular benefit, such as personal independence payments. However, data on satisfaction levels of claimants is not currently collected centrally.The Government is investing in the modernisation of our courts and tribunals. The SSCS Track My Appeal project will provide users appealing a social security decision through a tribunal with a digital service which allows them to track their appeal through SMS, email, and an online platform. The digital process will give appellants clear, accessible and regular updates on the progress of their appeal. The new service is due to roll out nationally later this year and HMCTS will collect user satisfaction data on the service.

Department for Exiting the European Union

British Nationals Abroad: EU Countries

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has to meet representatives of British in Europe to discuss the effect of the UK leaving the EU on UK citizens living in non-UK, EU countries.

Suella Fernandes: Throughout this process, Ministers and senior officials from the Department for Exiting the European Union have spoken with delegates from groups representing UK nationals in the EU, including representatives of British in Europe, to hear their views and concerns. Our Embassies and Ambassadors in the EU 27 have also engaged extensively with the UK communities in their host states.All UK nationals legally resident in the EU before the end of the implementation period, 31 December 2020, will fall under the Citizens’ Rights part of Withdrawal Agreement. This is an agreement that gives people more certainty about residence, healthcare, pensions and other benefits. As negotiations progress we will continue to work in the interests of our nationals to reach a final deal that is in the mutual interests of citizens living across the continent.

UK Trade With EU

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department has yet modelled the effect on the UK economy of the Government's intended future trade partnership with the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: We are undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work examining all areas of the UK economy. Our analytical work contributes to our exit negotiations with the EU, defines our deep and special partnership with the EU, and informs our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on continuing, internal analysis. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that could reveal our negotiating position.

Customs Unions

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department has modeled the economic effect of the UK remaining in an EU-UK Customs Union compared to alternative models of customs partnership.

Suella Fernandes: The Government has been clear that the UK will leave the EU Customs Union when it leaves the EU. As set out in our future partnership paper, in assessing the options for the UK's future customs relationship with the EU, the Government will be guided by three strategic objectives: ensuring UK-EU trade is as frictionless as possible; avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland; establishing an independent international trade policy. The future partnership paper set out two possible options to meet these objectives. We are undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work examining all areas of the UK economy. Our analytical work contributes to our exit negotiations with the EU, defines our deep and special partnership with the EU, and informs our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on continuing, internal analysis. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that could reveal our negotiating position.

Brexit

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the number of individual pieces of delegated legislation Parliament will be required to consider as a result of the UK leaving the EU in the twelve months between 29 March 2018 and 29 March 2019.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the number of individual pieces of delegated legislation Parliament will be required to consider as a result of the UK leaving the EU in the twelve months between 29 March 2019 and 29 March 2020.

Suella Fernandes: The Government expects to make between 800-1,000 Statutory Instruments to ensure a fully functioning statute book when the UK leaves the EU. While the exact number of Statutory Instruments required will vary, the Government is committed to bringing forward the legislation necessary.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Cambridge Analytica

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of its agencies has entered into contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Mr Steve Baker: The Department has not entered into any commercial contract with Cambridge Analytica. The Department has no agencies.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies entitled the Rising Affordability of Alcohol, published in February 2018, what assessment he has made of the implications for the pub sector of the introduction of minimum unit pricing.

Jake Berry: I refer the Hon member to my answer on 12 March 2018, UIN 130997.

Housing: Planning Permission

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed National Planning Policy Framework will enable councils to require fibre to home broadband to be installed on new developments.

Dominic Raab: The draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published for consultation on 5 March 2018. The framework proposes that councils should put forward planning policies setting out how high quality digital infrastructure is expected to be delivered and upgraded over time, prioritising full fibre connections to existing and new developments. If this is taken forward as part of the finalised NPPF, it will be for councils to determine the scope of their policies.

Hate Crime: Travellers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to improve the recording of hate crimes against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities (a) in Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) throughout England; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We have one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to protect communities from hostility, violence and bigotry. Our Hate Crime Action Plan focuses on reducing hate crime, increasing reporting and improving support for victims.As part of our work to improve reporting of hate crime, my Department has worked with the police and created a dedicated reporting page tailored for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities on their hate crime reporting portal True Vision and also funded a dedicated third party reporting website run by Herts GATE. As well as this, my Department also funds projects that encourage these communities to report hate crime, including The Traveller Movement’s #OperationReportHate.Data for racially motivated hatred towards Gypsies, Roma and Travellers is not disaggregated, and so we cannot provide more specific details on any specific areas.

Regional Planning and Development: Midlands

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for the launch of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund.

Jake Berry: The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is fully launched and the full range of investment types is available to beneficiary businesses across the Midlands. The debt sub funds launched on 29/08/2017 and the equity sub funds launched on 22/02/18. Full details of the fund and how to access finance is contained on the website: http://meif.co.uk/

Grenfell Tower: Fires

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households in (a) Barandon Walk, (b) Testerton Walk, (c) Hurstway Walk, (d) Treadgold House and (e) Bramley House require rehousing as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire; and how many of those households have been rehoused in (i) emergency accommodation, (ii) temporary accommodation and (iii) permanent accommodation.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 22 March 2018



Those from Grenfell Tower and Grenfell Walk, who lost their homes in the fire, will be prioritised for rehousing. Data provided by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea showed that, after the fire, 128 households from the wider estate took up alternative emergency accommodation. Many residents have returned to their homes, but I understand that some residents do not want to return home or do not yet feel ready to do so.For those who do not yet feel ready to return home, the Council is ensuring that suitable, good quality, self-contained interim accommodation is available. The Council are focusing on making refurbishments and repairs to accommodation on the Lancaster West Estate to enable people to move back to their homes.For those who do not wish to return home, the Council has published final plans for permanently rehousing those tenants from the wider Estate.As of 19 March 2018, data provided by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea shows that:(a) from Barandon Walk, (i) 12 households are in emergency accommodation; (ii) 26 households have moved into temporary accommodation; and (iii) no households have yet been permanently rehoused;(b) from Hurstway Walk, (i) 10 households are in emergency accommodation; (ii) 17 households have moved into temporary accommodation; and (iii) no households have yet been permanently rehoused; and(c) from Testerton Walk, (i) 10 households are in emergency accommodation; (ii) 20 households have moved into temporary accommodation; and (iii) no households have yet been permanently rehoused.I am not able to provide specific information on the location of households in the remainder of the Lancaster West Estate as this could cause individual households to be identified.

Ground Rent: Leasehold

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress his Department has made on reforming ground rents for leasehold property.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Since the Government’s announcement on 21 December 2017 to limit new leases to a peppercorn rent, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy. We will make further announcements in due course, and bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity.

Right to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2018 to Question 132534, how much money councils have returned to the Treasury in right to buy receipts in each year since 2012.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2018 to Question 132534, how much money councils have returned to the Treasury in right to buy receipts in each year since 2012 by local authority.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 22 March 2018



As stated in the answer to PQ 132538, answered on 22 March 2018, the Department does not publish this information, because it quickly falls out of date. This is due to operational reasons, as the 167 local authorities that have made relevant sales since 2012 have to estimate the amounts due, which are then made more accurate as a result of periodic review and reconciliation exercises.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2017 to Question 110635, on Grenfell Tower: fires, what discussions he has had with the Metropolitan Police on the timescale for (a) concluding the investigation and (b) publishing the report.

Dominic Raab: Speaking at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s procedural hearing on 21 March, the Metropolitan Police Service’s legal representative remarked that the forensic and evidential picture about the cause and spread of the Grenfell Tower fire was not going to be complete until autumn 2018.

Supported Housing: Housing Benefit

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the paper Funding supported housing: policy statement and consultation announced on 31 October 2017, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to housing benefit for supported accommodation on refuge providers who rely on rents for income.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The short-term supported housing funding model will ensure that the housing costs for people living in refuges and other forms of short-term supported housing will be met by a grant fund administered by local authorities.The same amount of funding as would have been available through Housing Benefit in 2020/21 will be made available as grant instead, and will directly fund bed spaces. The overall grant fund, including funding for refuges, will be ring-fenced indefinitely. Everyone who would be eligible under the current system to have their housing costs met by housing benefit will continue to have their housing costs met through the short-term funding model and no refuge should worry about closing or have any doubts over our commitment to ensure a sustainable funding model for them.We are continuing to listen to the sector and are considering feedback through the recent consultation which closed on 23 January, and includes sector comments on the effect of the model on the number of and services women’s refuges in England. In addition, we are undertaking a thorough review of the commissioning and funding of all Domestic Abuse services in England and will be working closely with the domestic abuse sector, drawing on their knowledge and expertise, to make sure we get this right.

Public Lavatories: Non-domestic Rates

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce discretionary business rate relief for public toilets.

Rishi Sunak: The Government recognises the importance of public toilets as a valuable community amenity and has encouraged local authorities to keep them open to the public. We will keep under review the need for any further action to support local authorities in doing so.

Hate Crime: Travellers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to improve the recording of hate crimes against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities (a) in West Midlands and (b) throughout England.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We have one of the strongest legislative frameworks in the world to protect communities from hostility, violence and bigotry. Our Hate Crime Action Plan focuses on reducing hate crime, increasing reporting and improving support for victims.As part of our work to improve reporting of hate crime, my Department has worked with the police and created a dedicated reporting page tailored for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities on their hate crime reporting portal True Vision and also funded a dedicated third party reporting website run by Herts GATE. As well as this, my Department also funds projects that encourage these communities to report hate crime, including The Traveller Movement’s #OperationReportHate.Data for racially motivated hatred towards Gypsies, Roma and Travellers is not disaggregated, and so we cannot provide more specific details on any specific areas.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, further to the oral contribution of the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government on 9 October 2017, Official Report, column 82, what the timetable is for the publication of public consultation into the effectiveness of enforcement procedures against unauthorised encampments and developments.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: It remains the Government’s intention to publish a consultation on powers for dealing with unauthorised development and encampments. We are working closely with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in finalising the consultation paper, which we intend to publish shortly.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement of 7 November 2017, Official Report, HCWS232 on Local Government Improvement, what public consultation preceded the policy announcement on the criteria against which further locally led merger proposals would be assessed.

Rishi Sunak: The Secretary of State’s written statement of 7 November (Official report HCWS232) indicated his intention, on which representations could be made, to assess any further locally led merger proposals received against the criteria which were the basis on which he had reached his “minded to” decision on the proposal from Suffolk Coastal and Waveney district councils. The Secretary of State has, to date, assessed all further such proposals against these criteria, having had regard to all the relevant information and representations available to him.

Planning Permission

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons garden city principles were omitted from the draft National Planning Policy Framework.

Dominic Raab: The revised draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the importance of securing high standards of sustainable design in all developments, not just in new settlements and garden cities.We announced at Budget the intention for up to five new garden towns and remain committed to working with ambitious authorities through the Garden Towns and Villages programme.The consultation on the revised draft NPPF closes on 10 May 2018.

Local Government Finance

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 20 March 2018, HCWS 569, on Local Government Finance, if he will set out in respect of each of the 27 local authorities and the Greater London Authority the amount of over-compensation given to each as a result of the error; and from what budget the £36 million overpayment will be funded.

Rishi Sunak: This information will be set out in the Department’s 2017-18 Resource Accounts and Annual Report, which we expect to publish in late June, or early July.

Local Government: Dorset

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he intends to consult the Local Government Boundary Commission on potential boundary changes consequent upon proposed changes to local government structures in Dorset; and on what date any changes recommended will come into effect.

Rishi Sunak: We understand that if Parliament approves the secondary legislation establishing the two new Dorset councils, which the Secretary of State intends to lay before the House shortly, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England intends to undertake electoral reviews for each council to establish new warding arrangements. We do not intend therefore to consult the Commission about potential boundary changes consequent on the proposed changes to local government structures.

Ministry of Defence

Navy: Navigation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to conduct future freedom of navigation operations; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: We are committed to asserting rights of freedom of navigation and overflight, as they are laid out under the high seas freedoms under Article 87 of UNCLOS.Wherever UK ships and aircraft operate in the world, they do so in full compliance with international law and norms.

Navy: Navigation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) US, (b) Australian and (c) Chinese counterparts on freedom of navigation operations.

Mark Lancaster: The Secretary of State for Defence has regular discussions with his counterparts from the United States, Australia - as well as other allies and partners - about how we defend the Rules Based International System and counter challenges to freedom of navigation.The UK Government continues to have regular dialogue with the Chinese on these subjects.

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2017 to Question 117695, when his Department plans to publish its new strategic equality objectives.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Department's new strategic objectives are in the process of being finalised and will be published in due course.

Gulf War Syndrome

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will recognise Gulf War Syndrome as a medical condition.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has no plans to recognise Gulf War Syndrome as a medical condition.

Reserve Forces: Pay

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 3 April 2017 to Question 69592, on Reserve Forces: Pay, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the changes to internal tax code procedures for Reservist personnel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence considers that the current arrangements are an improvement over those previously in place. However, accurate collection of income tax from our deployed Reservists requires their civilian employers to follow the guidance issued online at: https://www.gov.uk/employee-reservist.

Defence: Modernisation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the publication of the Defence Modernisation Programme.

Gavin Williamson: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support for (a) veterans and (b) serving Military personnel in (i) Telford constituency, ii) Telford and Wrekin borough, (iii) Shropshire, and (iv) the West Midlands.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to the mental health of our Service personnel, providing robust training, welfare support and development opportunities. When necessary, we ensure that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental healthcare and treatment they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.Recent initiatives include the new partnership, announced last October, with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. And in February 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community. We will also be providing an additional £2 million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20 million a year we already spend.Mental health services are already provided for serving personnel through a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs); six Mental Health Teams (MHTs); and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. DCMH Donnington is located in Telford itself, and covers the regions of the West Midlands (including Shropshire) and Wales. It also provides a visiting clinic four times a week to Defence Medical Services (DMS) Whittington in South Staffordshire, to improve access for patients based in or around the West Midlands.Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are eligible to access services at a local DCMH, including Donnington, for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.The VMH-TILS provider for the Midlands and East of England (which includes the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands) is the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. The service provides a range of treatment and support for veterans, as well as Armed Forces personnel approaching discharge. The VMH-TILS will arrange for veterans to be referred if necessary to the NHS England Veterans' Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH-CTS) which will be launched on 1 April 2018; the Service Provider for the Telford constituency, Telford and Wrekin Borough, Shropshire and the West Midlands is Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.Other services available from MOD to veterans in the West Midlands and elsewhere include the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP), for veterans that have served since 1982 and Reservists with operational service overseas since 2003 (also provided through DCMH Donnington), as well as the Veterans UK and Veterans Welfare Service.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support networks are available for (a) armed services personnel and (b) veterans who experience mental ill health.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to ensuring that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental health treatment and support they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.All three Services provide regular briefings on mental health issues, ranging from ways to maintain good mental health to recognising the signs of ill health and what to do if personnel have any concerns. To back up the extensive range of treatments that are provided, a wide range of associated support networks are also available for both personnel and their families, including welfare officers, padres, regimental organisations, online resources such as the 'Big White Wall', and various helplines that are available 24 hours a day.We have also been looking at ways to develop innovative new partnerships with charities, such as that announced in October 2017 with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. Furthermore, in February the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community.Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are able to access services at their nearest MOD Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.Service leavers receive a Service Leavers' Pack (compiled by Veterans UK) which contains information on support provision from charities such as the Royal British Legion and Soldiers', Sailors, Airmen and Families Association. These organisations have the facility to signpost to relevant mental health support agencies as required. Since October 2010, the Veterans' Information Service has contacted Service leavers by email or post 12 months after discharge to remind them of the range of mental health and other support available in the community. This includes the original Combat Stress 24-hour mental health helpline for veterans and their families, and the Veterans UK Veterans Welfare Service, which provides a national network of Welfare Managers to provide help and advice Service to veterans, their families and dependants.The Veterans' Gateway (VG) also provides a single point of contact for veterans and their families to get the right information, advice and support, either through one telephone number or the fully transactional website. Their cases are owned by trained welfare officers, many of whom are veterans, and directed to relevant specialist organisations for assistance.

Armed Forces: Discharges

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2018 to Question 131348, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons why the number of Other Ranks discharged on medical grounds from the Army is disproportionally higher than the number of Officers so discharged.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There has been no specific assessment made of the disproportionality between soldier and officer medical discharges in the Army. The difference will be due to a number of factors, including the physicality of roles.

Royal Irish Regiment

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many part-time UDR personnel have been injured on duty in each of the last five years; how much compensation was paid to each member; and what the criteria was for deciding on the level of compensation made.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ulster Defence Regiment ceased to exist in 1992 and consequently there were no injuries or compensation paid to such personnel in the last five years.

Armed Forces: Females

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to promote female recruitment into the armed forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2018 to Question 122565 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Morgan).



Armed Forces:Females
(Word Document, 22.28 KB)

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support for (a) veterans and (b) serving military personnel in (i) Coventry and (ii) the West Midlands.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is absolutely committed to the mental health of our Service personnel, providing robust training, welfare support and development opportunities. When necessary, we ensure that both serving personnel and veterans are given the mental healthcare and treatment they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.Recent initiatives include the new partnership, announced last October, with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. And in February 2018, the Secretary of State announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and their families, providing out-of-hours advice and assistance and running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community. We will also be providing an additional £2 million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20 million a year we already spend.For serving personnel, mental health services are already provided through a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs); six Mental Health Teams (MHTs); and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. DCMH Donnington is located in Telford, Shropshire, and covers the regions of the West Midlands (including Coventry) and Wales. It also provides a visiting clinic four times a week to Defence Medical Services (DMS) Whittington in South Staffordshire, to improve access for patients based in or around the West Midlands.Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are able to access services at a local DCMH (including Donnington) for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.The VMH-TILS service provider for the Midlands and East of England region (which includes Coventry) is Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. The service provides a range of treatment and support for veterans, as well as Armed Forces personnel approaching discharge. The VMH-TILS will arrange for veterans to be referred if necessary to the NHS England Veterans' Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH-CTS) which will be launched on 1 April 2018; the service provider for the West Midlands is Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.Other services available from MOD to veterans in the West Midlands and elsewhere include the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP), for veterans that have served since 1982 and Reservists with operational service overseas since 2003 (also provided through DCMH Donnington), and the Veterans UK and Veterans Welfare Service.

Law of War

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the use of lethal force is confined to (a) armed conflicts in which the UK is openly involved and (b) exceptional circumstances in which there is an imminent threat to the UK.

Mark Lancaster: The use of offensive lethal force overseas is controlled by robust Rules of Engagement and is ordinarily confined to armed conflicts in which the UK is openly involved. However, and as the Government has stated previously, if the UK is subject to an armed attack or the imminent threat of an armed attack, it reserves the right to take action first and inform Parliament after the event. Any decision to use lethal force outside of an armed conflict would be conducted on a case by case basis but always cognisant of the international law principles of necessity and proportionality.

Law of War

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the UK’s (a) legal framework and (b) guidance on its use of lethal force.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Clive Betts) in response to Question 128425 on 22 February 2018.



128425 - WQnA extract on MOD Law of War
(Word Document, 22.26 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Cambridge Analytica

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of its agencies has entered into contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence has never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Incentives

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was awarded to staff of her Department in bonuses in each of the last three financial years.

Kit Malthouse: In 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 DWP headcount was 89805, 84698 and 83851 respectively. In addition to annual salaries our staff were paid an annual, non-consolidated, performance-related bonus. For the majority of our most junior grades, AA to EO, the amounts were, on average in each year £463. Total payments were: in-year non-consolidated awardend of year non-consolidated awardTotal2014/2015£3,991,001£38,141,345£42,132,3462015/2016£4,095,000£35,979,154£40,074,1542016/2017£5,341,766£36,017,851£41,359,617

Support for Mortgage Interest

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2018 to Question 128306, if he will place the evidential basis for the predicted saving of over £160m per year to the taxpayer through the introduction of SMI loans in the Library.

Kit Malthouse: Information on savings associated with this policy is provided here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/725/impacts

Personal Independence Payment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of levels of satisfaction of claimants at the mandatory reconsideration stage of personal independence payment claims in each of the last two years.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Guardianship

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK have (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Guardianship

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK with a (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Guardianship

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the UK with a (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy are in receipt of employment and support allowance.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Guardianship

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that claimants with a (a) corporate appointeeship and (b) corporate deputy can claim Universal Credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department is currently designing a process which will allow claims to be made and managed by corporate appointees and deputies. In the meantime it is working with corporate appointees and deputies on a case by case basis, to ensure continuity of payment where claimants are migrating to Universal Credit from an existing benefit, and to facilitate new claims so that payment is made without delay.

Universal Credit

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Universal Credit split payment arrangement related to domestic violence cases, whether non-requesting partners are able to reverse a request via (a) their online account or (b) Jobcentre Plus.

Kit Malthouse: A non-requesting partner cannot reverse a split payment arrangement. The arrangement can be reviewed if the applicant and/or their partner provide further information via their online account, face to face with a Work Coach or over the phone. However, the arrangement will only be reversed if the Secretary of State is satisfied that it is in the best interest of the household.To help ensure people requesting reviews are acting in the interests of their household, Universal Credit agents will collect as much information as possible from the claimants. This information will include details of the mismanagement of welfare support, its effect on individual members of the household and reasons for no longer making split payments.

Access to Work Programme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of access to work users who will be affected by the new cap of £57,000 per year.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 132939, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of universal credit claims paid to couples with children who do do not receive split payments are paid to a (i) male and (ii) female claimant.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Breakdowns of individuals on Universal Credit by gender, and households in Universal Credit by family type are published, and can be found on Stat-Xplore at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universities Superannuation Scheme

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Universities UK on the decision to close the defined benefit portion of the Universities Superannuation Scheme to all future service.

Guy Opperman: Subject to the requirements of automatic enrolment, pension arrangements are a matter between employers and their workforce. Neither Ministers nor officials in my Department have received any approach from UK Universities.

Cold Weather Payments

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether wind chill factor is taken into account in the calculation of cold weather payments.

Kit Malthouse: The current Cold Weather Payment service is supported by measurements of air temperature and wind chill is not taken into account.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects new guidelines on mental illness and personal independence payments (PIP) to be issued to PIP assessors.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has her Department has made on writing new guidelines for personal independence payments that take account of the effect of mental health conditions on an person's mobility.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which mental health conditions will be included in the new Personal Independence Payment guidelines.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training personal independence payment assessors receive on mental illness and the disabilities that result from them.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Maintenance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Child Maintenance Service only reviews of a person's payments when their income changes by 25% or more; and what assessment has she made of the effect of that policy on people whose decrease in salary does not meet the 25% threshold.

Kit Malthouse: The Child Maintenance Service uses annually updated income information provided by HMRC to assess maintenance liabilities. The aim is that a liability, once created, stays in force for a year excepting significant income changes of 25% or more. This provides certainty and stability for both parents to allow them to budget effectively to the benefit of their children; and removes the need for paying parents to keep the Service updated of every change to their income. We continue to monitor the impact of the reformed child maintenance scheme.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November to Question 113079, what steps he is taking to inform claimants that they can offset unreimbursed work expenses against the income reported to her Department through real-time information in order to obtain a higher payment of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: We are in the process of updating our external communications and our guidance products for staff, to ensure that claimants are made aware that unreimbursed work expenses can be offset against the income.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department will deduct pension contributions from reported income in order to calculate a claimant's universal credit award.

Alok Sharma: When calculating earned income, Universal Credit disregards any money that a claimant has invested, or will invest, in a personal or occupational pension.

*No heading*

Eddie Hughes: What steps the Government is taking to help young people with disabilities into work.

Sarah Newton: This Government is committed to enabling young disabled people to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations. We provide a range of programmes and initiatives to support them, including: Jobcentre support for schools, which targets young people that schools identify as being at risk of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training), or who may otherwise be disadvantaged in the labour market – for example those with a health or disability issue. The Young Person’s Supported Work Experience programme, which offers a personally tailored supported work experience opportunity for young people (aged 18 – 24) to enable them to fully benefit from time in the work place. This proof of concept is being tested in five Jobcentre Plus districts. Tri-Work, a supported work experience proof of concept aimed at young people with special educational needs in years 10/11 in schools and special schools. This proof of concept is being tested in three local authorities. The Local Supported Employment (LSE) proof of concept ‘place and train’ model, which aims to move disabled people into real jobs, at the going rate of pay, with support for both the individual and employer. This is being tested in nine local authorities. Supported Internships, which all qualified post-16 education providers in England have been able to deliver Since September 2013. These are personalised study programmes, based primarily at a prospective employer, for young people with complex learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Access to Work, which already offers support to disabled people undertaking a number of opportunities that help them to prepare for paid employment, including work experience, apprenticeships, supported internships and traineeships.

*No heading*

Jeremy Lefroy: What steps her Department is taking to strengthen families.

Kit Malthouse: DWP takes a range of steps to strengthen families. This includes helping families meet their eligible childcare costs when claiming Universal Credit; and providing Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance. Our child maintenance reforms and new Reducing Parental Conflict Programme also aim to help parents collaborate, whether they are together or separated.

*No heading*

Luke Hall: What steps she is taking to ensure that universal credit supports people in progressing at work and increasing their earnings.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit provides us with the opportunity to support people to progress in work and we are currently developing the evidence base on how best to do this. Building on our existing suite of trials, which includes a large scale Randomised Control Trial on in-work progression, we have committed an additional £8m to testing different approaches to supporting people to progress.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Drinking Water: Plastics

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the presence of plastic particles in bottled water.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK has world-leading standards of food safety and quality, backed by a rigorous legislative framework. The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2007 set strict chemical and microbiological limits and minimum quality criteria for different types of bottled waters. Local Authority Trading Standards departments are responsible for enforcing the regulations on bottled waters and are required to carry out routine monitoring checks and sampling.The Government is committed to maintaining the highest standards of food safety and quality for bottled waters to protect UK consumers.

Beverage Containers: Recycling

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase recycling rates of disposable coffee cups.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Current packaging policies and regulations have resulted in recycling of packaging rising from around 57.5% in 2006 to 64.7% in 2016, with recycling of paper packaging at 82% in 2016. Disposable coffee cups, like all forms of packaging, fall under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, which seek to minimise the amount of packaging waste generated and ensure that what is used is recycled. As a result most major coffee retailers have a legal and financial obligation to recover and recycle a proportion of the packaging they place on the market, including disposable coffee cups. Building on Government encouragement for the recycling schemes being promoted and deployed by coffee retailers, we are considering a wide range of policy options for the Resources & Waste Strategy, including a latte levy as part of the call for evidence launched on 13 March. The industry is also taking further, voluntary action aimed at significantly increasing paper cup recycling rates by 2020.

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been imprisoned for the offence of animal cruelty in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: I refer the honourable gentleman to the data within the below linked response provided to the noble Lord Allen of Kensington. Court proceedings data for 2017 is planned for publication in May 2018.http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2017-09-08/HL1470/

Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2018 to Question 132299 on Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges, whether retailers are obliged to redistribute all of the revenue they raise from the 5p carrier bag charge to good causes; and if he will take steps to ensure that all of the £94.8 million raised so far by the ten largest retailers is redistributed for such purposes.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As this is not a tax, the UK Government does not determine where the proceeds of the charge are redistributed. We expect retailers to donate the proceeds of the charge (after deducting VAT and reasonable costs) to good causes such as charities or community groups. The costs of the bags themselves cannot be deducted from the revenue. The Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) Order 2015 is due for review before 5 October 2020, which will require an assessment of cost and benefits. Any changes to amend the policy ahead of this timeframe will be considered as part of the Government’s forthcoming Resources and Waste Strategy.

Ritual Slaughter: Labelling

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to introduce method-of-slaughter labelling after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Government is aware that there is public concern about meat from animals slaughtered in accordance with religious beliefs being sold to consumers who do not require their meat to be prepared in this way. There are no domestic or European regulations that require the labelling of halal or kosher meat but where any information of this nature is provided, it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government believes that consumers should have the necessary information available to them to make an informed choice about their food, and this is an issue the Government is considering in the context of our departure from the EU.

Poultry: Slaughterhouses

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evidence informed the Government's decision to omit the parameters recommended by the European Food Safety Authority on stunning poultry in electric water baths for animals killed in accordance with religious rites under the Welfare At Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the decision to omit the parameters recommended by the European Food Safety Authority on stunning poultry in electric water baths for animals killed in accordance with religious rites under the Welfare At Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.

George Eustice: Article 4 (1) of the European Council Regulation 1099/2009 requires all animals to be stunned before slaughter, using the methods and parameters listed in Annex 1 to the Regulation. These methods and parameters in Annex 1 are based on the European Food Safety Authority’s advice. The only exception to the requirement for animals to be stunned is for those animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, where Article 4(4) specifically states that the requirements in Article 4(1) (e.g. Annex I stunning parameters) do not apply to religious slaughter carried out in a slaughterhouse. The Welfare of Animals at Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 (WATOK) provide the enforcement powers for the European legislation and contain stricter national rules. Prior to the introduction of WATOK, the halal poultry industry had raised concerns that the stunning requirements for waterbaths in the European Regulation were incompatible with halal slaughter. There was, therefore, a risk that more of the halal industry would move over to non-stun slaughter if it had to follow the parameters set out in the EU regulation. The Government considered the position in England and decided to keep existing national rules, where these provided greater protection than the EU regulation, but not to introduce a new national rule to apply Annex I stunning parameters to religious slaughter. A review of WATOK is scheduled to take place before 2020 and will consider to what extent the objectives of the legislation have been met.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to ensure that farmers are not penalised if they make a mistaken claim as a result of a mapping error caused by the re-mapping conducted by the Rural Payments Agency.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency are required to demonstrate compliance with the EU rules by keeping our mapping up to date or run the risk of significant disallowance. Updates to our maps are based on the intelligence we receive from Ordnance Survey; aerial photography; inspection outcomes; and requests made by farmers. They have notified customers of all changes made to their land parcel information.Key stakeholders have been engaged throughout the exercise to raise awareness, and the RPA has provided advice and guidance to support applicants for Basic Payment Scheme 2018 in making an accurate claim. This includes a dedicated helpline and page on rpa.gov.uk dedicated to mapping.The RPA has established processes which take into account, on a case-by-case basis, any evidence or information submitted by farmers should any differences be found.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of new maps produced this year by the Rural Payments Agency is being disputed by CAP claimants.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) have reviewed and updated over 2 million parcels to bring the information in line with EU requirements. As of 23 March the RPA had received and reviewed 527 forms to request changes to the updates and of these 48 forms required action to make corrections to the mapping updates.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in what proportion of farm holdings boundaries changed as a result of this year’s re-mapping by the Rural Payments Agency.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is required to demonstrate compliance with the EU rules by keeping our mapping up to date or run the risk of significant disallowance. Updates to our maps are based on the intelligence we receive from Ordnance Survey; aerial photography; inspection outcomes; and requests made by farmers. The RPA don’t capture information on what individual parcel boundary changes were the result of the exercise to update their mapping, in line with EU requirements, and what changes were the result of farmer changes to field management.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs&publication_type=transparency-data As well as ministerial meetings, departmental officials meet external organisations on a regular and ongoing basis.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Cambridge Analytica

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of its agencies has entered into contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

George Eustice: Defra and its executive agencies have not entered into any contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Home Office

Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will certify the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury on 4 March 2018 as an act of terrorism.

Mr Ben Wallace: Police are treating this incident as an attempted murder and it has not been declared a terrorist incident.

Police: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the effect of the change in the level of police funding on the capacity of local police forces in Coventry to investigate violent crimes; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that crime has fallen consistently and is down by over a third since 2010. The ONS believes that while overall levels of violent crime are not increasing nationally, there is evidence of rises having occurred in some of the more harmful categories such as knife and gun crime. Clearly there is more we must do to tackle the violent crimes which blight communities.I spoke to all police forces in England and Wales in the lead-up to the police funding settlement. This settlement responds to the evidence they provided on changing demand by providing an increase in total police funding of around £450m in 2018/19, around £270m of which will go directly to Police and Crime Commissioners to spend on local priorities. In the West Midlands the PCC has decided to use precept flexibility to raise around £9.5m of additional funding for the force, and has committed £2m to projects to tackle violence and gang crime.We will publish our new Serious Violence Strategy in the Spring which will respond to recent increases in serious violence, with tough new laws planned to address knives, acid and guns.

Passports: British Embassy Dublin

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passport applications the British embassy in Dublin approved in each of the last 10 years; and of those applications what proportion were (a) for new and (b) to renew passports.

Caroline Nokes: Since the repatriation of passport processing in 2014, all decisions relating to UK passport applications made from Ireland have been taken by Her Majesty’s Passport Office in the UK. The information on passport applications processed by the Dublin office before repatriation could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Visas: Russia

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 1 investment visas issued to Russian nationals between 2008 and 2015 have been subsequently revoked.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 1 investment visas were issued to Russian citizens between 2008 to 2015.

Caroline Nokes: The available information on ‘Tier 1 – Investor’ entry clearance visas granted to Russian nationals are published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, in Visas data tables volume 2, table vi_06_q_w, latest edition at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#visas.No information is published on numbers of visas issued where leave has been curtailed.

Visas: Russia

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 4 student visas have been issued by each higher education institution to Russian citizens in each year since 2015.

Caroline Nokes: Entry clearance visas are issued by the Home Office.The available published information relates to total university sponsored study visa applications, by nationality and is published in Home Office’s Immigration Statistics, October – December 2017, Sponsorship table cs_13_q available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#sponsorshipInformation on numbers enrolled at each HEI, by domicile or nationality, is collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which (a) Minister of her Department and (b) Special Adviser in her Department authorised the tweet of 7 February 2018 by @UKHomeOffice that the Government is providing a £450 million boost to #police funding across England and Wales to help strengthen police forces.

Mr Nick Hurd: The tweet published by my department on 7 February 2018 was a reissue of an animation that was originally published on 19 December 2017, which was cleared through the normal clearance process.

Drugs: West Midlands

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the eight recommendations on drug policy made by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner in his recent report, Reducing Crime and Preventing Harm, and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government welcomes the focus the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner places on drugs in his report Reducing Crime and Preventing Harm. In our 2017 Drug Strategy, we set out a balanced approach to tackle the illicit drug trade, protect the most vulnerable and help those with a drug dependency to full recovery. In most parts, the local approach outlined in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s report aligns with the Government’s vision.Officials from the Home Office have met the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner to discuss the recommendations from his report. They will continue to observe the development and impact of this work with interest.

Shops: Crime

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle crime against convenience stores.

Victoria Atkins: The Government takes retail crime very seriously. We recognise the damage and disruption that different crimes can have on businesses including smaller businesses and convenience stores.Through the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which I co-chair with the British Retail Consortium, we bring together representatives from government departments, the police and the retail sector to focus on the crime issues that affect all parts if the retail sector. The Association of Convenience Stores is represented on the Steering Group and is helping to shape the agenda at national level.

Immigration

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on the number of applicants who apply for indefinite leave to remain who are unsuccessful on their first application but who are successful on a subsequent attempt.

Caroline Nokes: We are unable to provide the information requested as this would involve undertaking a manual trawl of individual cases which would incur disproportionate cost.The number of applications for indefinite leave to remain is published as part of the Migration Transparency data, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data InC 02 for all routes with a 6 month service standard.

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 132345, on Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, what the timetable is for a decision to be made.

Caroline Nokes: All requests for visits to immigration removal centres (IRC) by Honourable Members require the agreement of the Minister for Immigration, with local constituency MPs generally given priority over non-constituency MPs.In addition to security and safety considerations, visits to view IRCs can affect the regime for detainees and are therefore subject to careful consideration and management to minimise disruption and intrusion.I am still considering the Honourable Member’s request and will respond in due course.

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to identify a new Chief Executive to oversee the operations of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority; when an appointment to that role will be made; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The appointment of a Chief Executive is a matter for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, subject to the consent of the Home Secretary. The GLAA is expected to make an announcement shortly.

Home Office: Cambridge Analytica

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) her Department and (b) any of its agencies has entered into contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has not entered into any contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Sexual Offences: Newcastle upon Tyne

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department has allocated to provide long-term support to victims of sexual abuse identified in Operation Sanctuary.

Victoria Atkins: Government is committed to ensuring that victims of crime have access to the support services they need to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects.This year, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is providing £12.5m funding for services for victims and survivors of sexual violence. This includes £7m funding for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). In Northumbria, MoJ is providing £265,870 (including £60,000 CSA uplift) to four rape support centres, and a further £116,423 has been delegated to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to spend on service for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA).Overall, MoJ is spending £96m this year to fund support services for victims of crime. Around £68m of this has been allocated to PCCs to locally commission or provide support services for victims of crime. The grant to Northumbria PCC, including the CSA provision, was almost £1.7m.

Engineers and Scientists: Visas

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 132362, on Engineers and Scientists: Visas, whether her Department no longer collects the data referred to.

Caroline Nokes: The Department has not ceased collecting the data referred to.

Asylum: Housing

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government’s policy on room sharing with reference to accommodation for dispersed asylum seekers.

Caroline Nokes: Accommodation providers must comply with national and local housing regulations including those regarding room sharing. The accommodation contracts set out who may share a room, which includes allowing room sharing for couples, unrelated adults of the same sex and related children depending on their genders and ages. Providers are contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate and an assessment is made on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific needs of the individual.

Wales Office

Apprentices: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122821, on Apprentices: Wales, whether his Department plans to have consulted with the Welsh Government before the summer recess.

Stuart Andrew: The Wales Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Brexit: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 118400, on Brexit: Wales, what the issues are that have been brought to his attention; and what steps the Government has taken to resolve those issues.

Stuart Andrew: The Wales Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office participates in framework contracts with the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government for the provision of cleaning services in its London and Edinburgh offices.The Scotland Office does not set the wages paid by the contractors to its workers; however, we are able to confirm the hourly rates paid by both contractors are above the national living wage.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Contracts

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to ensure that companies that hold state contracts meet their obligations to smaller firms.

Oliver Dowden: The obligations between a prime contractor and a subcontractor, including grievance procedures, will be set out in the contract between the two parties.Where a prime contractor has failed to meet its obligations to pay the subcontractor promptly, the subcontractor can report the matter to the Government’s Mystery Shopper Service.

Electoral Register

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to every Voice Matters: Building a democracy that works for everyone, published by the Government in December 2017, if his Department will take steps to collect official statistics on the registration rates of (a) homeless people, (b) transgender people and (c) Care Home residents.

Chloe Smith: Electoral statistics published annually by the Office for National Statistics derive from the electoral registers held by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The Government does not otherwise collect official statistics on registration. EROs collect data solely for the purposes of registration. There are no gender requirements for registration and it is therefore not possible or appropriate for EROs to collect data on this. Some EROs may collect data on the number of applicants (including homeless people) to register using Declarations of Local Connection and some EROs may have data on care home registrations, but there are no requirements to collect such data.The democratic engagement plan published in December 2017 sets out the Government’s commitment to undertake further research into the barriers that could be preventing individuals from these groups from applying to register to vote.

Civil Servants: Qualifications

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 35 of his Department's report, The What Works Network: Five years on, what formal accreditation civil servants will achieve and which roles and grades of civil servant will participate.

Oliver Dowden: The Policy Profession has developed a set of established professional standards, against which we have developed a range of learning activities. One area of focus, raised in the What Works report, has been on developing and testing an approach that uses experienced policy (and analytical) colleagues to assess junior colleagues’ practical experience against the standards. These standards were agreed in December 2017, having been reviewed and improved after an initial small scale pilot assessments on 19 people across 6 departments to test them out. Broader pilots are due to start from May 2018.In 2015 we launched a 2 year Executive Masters in Public Policy with London School of Economics (pitched as Senior Civil Servants at the first level, SCS1) which the first cohort of 28 passed in 2017.

Electronic Government

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful payments were made on GOV.UK Pay in each of the last 12 months.

Oliver Dowden: The Government Digital Service publish information about the transactions that are processed by GOV.UK Pay on its performance dashboard, available at https://www.gov.uk/performance/govuk-pay

Cabinet Office: Cleaning Services

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the rate of remuneration for cleaners in his Department.

Oliver Dowden: The pay range for directly employed London cleaning staff is £20,390 - £24,430 per annum.The rate of pay for cleaning staff employed by our Facilities Management contractors ranges from £7.50 per hour to £10.20 per hour, depending on the contract and the age of the employee.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants by grade in each Government Department have completed formally recognised apprenticeships under (a) the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England scheme and (b) previous schemes.

Oliver Dowden: Cabinet office collects data on apprenticeship starts in the Civil Service. However, comprehensive information on the outcome of apprenticeship starts is not currently available. Information on outcomes will be available later in the year.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the success rates of the Gov.uk contracts finder.

Oliver Dowden: We have increased the transparency of public procurement opportunities via the Contracts Finder website, which is free to use and which covers current and future public sector contracts and award notices above £10,000 in central government and £25,000 in the wider public sector.

National Security Capability Review

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the timetable is for the publication of the National Security Capability Review.

Mr David Lidington: The National Security Council has agreed the high-level findings of the National Security Capability Review. Ministers have agreed that we should finalise the National Security Capability Review with a view to publishing the conclusions in spring.

Civil Servants: Equality

Afzal Khan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 128781, if he will set out the external stakeholders who were consulted on embedding diversity and inclusion in civil service work force plans and diversity and inclusion strategy.

Oliver Dowden: The Civil Service Workforce Plan set out our ambition to becoming the most inclusive employer in the UK. In October 2017 The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy set out our plan to achieve this.In developing the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy officials engaged with a number of external groups. This included working with the Civil Service Diversity Expert Advisers, a range of expert organisations and employers networks where we tested and consulted on specific aspects of our strategy.

10 Downing Street: Operating Costs

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the running costs of No.10 Downing Street has been for each of the past 10 years.

Oliver Dowden: 10 Downing Street is a part of the Cabinet Office estate which is managed as a whole. Separating these costs would not be possible without incurring disproportionate cost.

Admiralty House: Operating Costs

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the running costs have been for Admiralty House Flats for each of the past 10 years.

Oliver Dowden: This information is not held centrally and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Chequers: Operating Costs

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been paid out of the public purse to (a) the trustees and (b) the estate for the running costs for Chequers in each of the last ten years.

Oliver Dowden: Chequers is run and managed by an independent trust and is maintained by an endowment administered by the Trustees. The Trust also receives an annual grant-in-aid from public funds towards maintenance and staffing costs. Details of the grant-in-aid are published after the end of the financial year and accounted for in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts, which can be accessed on the GOV.UK website.

Public Sector: Blockchain

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to implement trials of the blockchain proof of conception (a) Government Departments and (b) other public bodies.

Oliver Dowden: Cabinet Office and the Government Digital Service are researching potential usecases of distributed ledger technologies / blockchain jointly with departments and public bodies for future trials and proofs of concepts with a view of driving efficiency and supporting transformation.

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Deidre Brock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 118569, tabled by the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith on 11 December 2017.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer to PQ118569 given on 22nd March 2018.

Chequers: Finance

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much it is planned for the trustees of Chequers to receive any grant in aid over the next four years.

Oliver Dowden: Decisions are made annually on the sum needed to run the estate and the costs of maintaining and repairing the Grade 1 listed building which the Trust has a responsibility to maintain. Ongoing considerations of income help to inform these decisions.

Treasury

Royal Bank of Scotland

Luke Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he next plans to meet representatives of the Royal Bank of Scotland to discuss rural branch closures.

Luke Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he next plans to meet representatives of the Bank of Scotland to discuss rural branch closures.

Luke Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he next plans to meet representatives of the Clydesdale Bank to discuss rural branch closures.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including RBS, Lloyds and Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Groups, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel The decision to open or close branches is a commercial matter, in which the Government does not intervene. However, the impact of closures on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. The industry’s Access to Banking Standard, launched in May 2017, commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board. 99% of personal and 95% of banks’ business customers are now able to withdraw cash, deposit cash and cheques, and make balance enquiries at a Post Office counter via its network of 11,600 branches. In February, I wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance requesting further details of their proposals to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs. I look forward to receiving their proposals later this month.

Children: Northern Ireland

Angela Rayner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 13 March 2018, Official Report, column 767, which colleagues from Northern Ireland he intends to engage with; and what steps he plans to take to engage with those colleagues.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has delivered a successful childcare policy, including a 30 hours policy for working parents in England. We are willing to engage and provide advice, based on our experience of developing and administering policies in England, to the Northern Ireland parties and the Northern Ireland Civil Service should they wish to discuss this with us.

European Investment Bank

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to allocate funding from the public purse to (a) businesses and (b) Government Departments to replace funding from the European Investment Bank when the UK leaves the EU.

Elizabeth Truss: The European Investment Bank, and its offshoot, the European Investment Fund, provide financing for infrastructure investment and growth businesses. The UK considers that it may prove to be in the mutual interest of all sides for the UK to maintain some form of ongoing relationship with the EIB Group after leaving the EU, and we will explore these options with the EU as part of the negotiations on the future relationship. The government is committed to ensuring good infrastructure projects and growth businesses can access the finance they need. The UK Guarantees Scheme, which gives government support for private infrastructure finance, has been broadened to offer construction guarantees for the first time, and the British Business Bank will be able to bring forward some of the £400 million additional investment announced at the 2016 Autumn Statement.

Pre-school Education: Non-domestic Rates

Tulip Siddiq: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to extend business rates relief to early years providers before the next re-evaluation of rates in 2021.

Mel Stride: Early years providers may be eligible for existing business rates reliefs, including Small Business Rate Relief and Charitable Rate Relief. They will benefit from reductions to business rates of over £10 billion. The Government keeps all taxes, including reliefs, under review.

Revenue and Customs

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether the transition to regional HMRC centres through the Building Our Future programme will be effected by the UK leaving the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC is considering how best to accommodate any potential additional resources required as the UK exits the EU. HMRC does not believe that these developments will require any significant change to its long term strategy to move to regional centres.

Customs

Stephen Morgan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the contingency funding that has been made available for Border Taskforce preparedness has been drawn down by HMRC to manage customs at ports in each of the last 12 months.

Mel Stride: HMRC was provided with £47m at Supplementary Estimates 2017-18 for EU Exit related work, and allocated a further £260m at Spring Statement 2018 for 2018-19. As with all Reserve funding next year, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019. This funding will allow HMRC to support ongoing work to deliver the UK’s new customs, tax and welfare arrangements with the EU, including preparation of the borders.

Customs

Stephen Morgan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has undertaken a recent assessment of warehouse and storage capacity at UK ports.

Mel Stride: HMRC is engaging with UK ports to understand the impact and challenges that they may face when the UK leaves the EU. The Government wants to ensure that traffic continues to flow freely at all UK ports and airports.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if Barnett consequentials will be made available to the Scottish Government to reflect the investment made by the UK Government in HS2 in England.

Douglas Chapman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if Barnett consequentials will be made available to the Scottish Government to reflect the investment made by the UK Government in Crossrail in England.

Elizabeth Truss: As set out in the Statement of Funding Policy, both Crossrail and High Speed 2 are considered devolved for the purposes of operating the Barnett Formula. The Scottish Government therefore receive Barnett consequentials on changes to funding for these programmes.

Advance Pricing Agreements

Anneliese Dodds: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the Government has not complied with the requirements of the European Union Joint Transfer Pricing Forum in providing statistics on the number of Advance Pricing Agreements in force for the fifth consecutive year.

Mel Stride: The UK has complied with the requirements of the European Union Joint Transfer Pricing Forum and provided statistics on the number of Advance Pricing Agreements in force.The statistics are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/transfer-pricing-eu-context/joint-transfer-pricing-forum_en

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2018 to Question 130335, what proportion of Vehicle Excise Duty is to be allocated to the proposed new Roads Fund from 2020-21 onwards.

Elizabeth Truss: As Vehicle Exercise Duty is a UK wide duty, an English share of VED revenues will be allocated to the road fund. The Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive will receive Barnett consquentials on this funding in the usual way.

Taxation: Electronic Government

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to make businesses aware of the introduction of the Making Tax Digital system in April 2019.

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) advice and (b) training the Government is making available to businesses to prepare for the roll-out of the Making Tax Digital system.

Mel Stride: Making Tax Digital (MTD) is designed to enable businesses to meet their tax obligations as simply as possible. There will be a range of advice and support available to help businesses prepare for MTD for VAT in April 2019. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working very closely with software providers, businesses, representative bodies and the accountancy profession to raise awareness of MTD and ensure the right support and training is in place to help businesses adapt. HMRC’s customer support model, which will guide businesses to the most appropriate help, includes technical support, webchat, YouTube training videos, webinars, helpline and agent and business guides. HMRC will also publish a list of MTD for VAT compatible products on GOV.UK to help businesses make an informed choice of software to meet their needs. A pilot for VAT will start shortly to test the system, including the support model, well ahead of April 2019.

Child Care Vouchers

Stephanie Peacock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral answer of the Secretary of State for Education to the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne of 19 March 2018, Official Report, column 17, on childcare vouchers, what transitional considerations the Government will assess; and what steps it is taking to assess them.

Elizabeth Truss: We are replacing childcare vouchers with Tax-Free Childcare, which will provide support to nearly 1 million more families than currently use childcare vouchers. Childcare vouchers will remain open to new entrants for a further 6 months, and close to new entrants in October. Tax-Free Childcare is now fully rolled out, and we will keep it under review to ensure it’s delivering the support needed for working families.

11 Downing Street: Operating Costs

Tommy Sheppard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the running costs of No.11 Downing Street were in each of the last ten years.

Robert Jenrick: The No.11 Downing Street running costs for the last ten years are in the table below. The figures cover a service charge payable to the Cabinet Office, maintenance, furniture & fittings and official entertainment YearSpend (£)2007-08430,5962008-09519,9922009-10436,9092010-11351,0542011-12553,9032012-13545,0732013-14643,4142014-15561,0892015-16524,3812016-17698,6722017-18*594,142 *2017-18 spend represents April 2017 to February 2018.

Financial Services: Regulation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether paragraph 2.1 of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Principles for Business applies to (a) all firms authorised by the FCA and (b) firms engaged in regulated activities which are not authorised by the FCA.

John Glen: Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, any firm (whether a business, a not-for-profit or a sole trader) carrying out a regulated activity must be authorised or registered by the FCA, unless they are exempt. It is a criminal offence to carry out regulated activities if a firm is not authorised or exempt. All FCA regulated firms must adhere to the Principles for Businesses, as set out in the FCA Handbook.

Dorneywood: Expenditure

Tommy Sheppard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent on Dorneywood (a) in total and (b) trustees in each of the last 10 years.

Robert Jenrick: The Treasury has not funded the Dorneywood Trust in the last 10 years. It does make payments to the Trust for goods and services consumed by Treasury Ministers such as newspapers, conferences and catering and, in 2016-17, made a contribution to the costs of installing Wi-Fi. These payments are set out below: 2007-08£4,864.002008-09£1,581.832009-10£7,957.642010-11£1,102.842011-12£2,124.672012-13£3,671.302013-14£3,149.902014-15£2,443.382015-16£2,540.472016-17£7,849.84

Dorneywood: Finance

Tommy Sheppard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any grant in aid is planned to be provided to the trustees of Dorneywood during the 2017 Parliament.

Robert Jenrick: Dorneywood is a private charitable trust. There is no grant in aid given to Dorneywood from the Treasury.

Treasury: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group, (b) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (c) Cambridge Analytica; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel As well as ministerial meetings, departmental officials meet external organisations on a regular and ongoing basis.

Treasury: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies and public bodies have held contracts with (i) SCL group, (ii) Strategic Communication Laboratories and (iii) Cambridge Analytica.

Robert Jenrick: No contracts have been held with those companies.

Child Care Vouchers

Stephanie Peacock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Education of 13 March 2018, Official Report, Column 802, what further legislative steps he intends to take to close the childcare vouchers scheme in October 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: We have confirmed that we will keep the voucher scheme open to new entrants for a further six months. Before the scheme can close to new entrants, relevant day regulations must be made.

Child Care Vouchers: Northern Ireland

Stephanie Peacock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 133041, on Children: Day Care, what meetings he plans to hold with colleagues in Northern Ireland to discuss the circumstances of public sector employers in relation to childcare vouchers.

Elizabeth Truss: We will follow up on our commitment to work with the Northern Ireland parties to administer childcare support in Northern Ireland, in the absence of an Executive, in due course.

Bank Notes

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to hold a public consultation on proposals to remove £50 notes from circulation.

Robert Jenrick: There are no proposals to withdraw the fifty pound banknote from circulation. Nor are there plans to scrap any other note, or coin, currently in circulation. We recently issued a call for evidence to better understand the role of cash and digital payments in the new economy. One part of this seeks views on whether the current mix of coins, and notes, meet the public’s needs. Cash continues to play an important part in the lives of many people and businesses in the UK. We are committed to ensuring that these needs continue to be met.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Internet

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of his Department’s cloud-hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value was of those contracts in each of the last three years.

Margot James: We did not award any contracts to hyperscale cloud providers. There was no requirement to award UK SMEs cloud hosting contracts in 2015 or 2016. In 2017 we awarded £41,850 to UK SMEs.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Assets

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.

Margot James: The UK Government is a significant landowner. The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's vision to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose and sustainable estate whose performance matches the best of the private sector. As a Government we are delivering this vision, ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose, is frequently reviewed and aligned to the Estate Strategy, and is managed in an efficient and effective way. The money raised by DCMS from property, plant and equipment (which includes land and buildings) in each year since 2010 is shown in the table below. The information is available only in combination, so is not split into (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings. We are unable to provide information on the money raised by DCMS, split between land, buildings and other assets without incurring a disproportionate cost. The information is correct at time of publication. The information given is for DCMS only: it does not include information from DCMS's arm's length bodies. YearMoney Raised from selling property, plant and equipment (£k)2010/1102011/1232012/13212013/14532014/1502015/1612016/170Total78

Tennis: Public Participation

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his  Department holds on the participation of people with (a) different socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) the protected characteristics listed in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 in the sport of lawn tennis.

Tracey Crouch: Sport England’s “Active Lives” survey provides data on participation levels in sport and physical activity. According to the latest figures available (published October 2017) approximately 865,000 or 1.9% of adults aged 16+ participated in tennis twice in the last 28 days. The tables below provide a breakdown by protected characteristic and socio-economic status. Data broken down by socio-economic group (where available) DemographicShareNumber (rounded to nearest 5,000)GenderMale58.8%510,000Female41.2%355,000DisabilityLong term limiting disability5.0%45,000No long term limiting disability95.0%820,000Age16-3439.3%340,00035-5431.9%275,00055-7423.9%210,00075+4.8%40,000EthnicityWhite-British81.0%700,000White-Other7.2%60,000Asian7.3%60,000Black1.2%10,000Chinese*-Mixed1.8%15,000Other ethnic group*- Data broken down by socio-economic group This data relates to adults aged 16-74 only rather than all adults aged 16+. NS SEC 1-2325,000NS SEC 3-5180,000NS SEC 6-895,000NS SEC 9115,000 NotesAll Active Lives data is from the Active Lives release in October 2017 with the data from May 2016 - May 2017. *It is not possible to provide data for participation rates amongst those who have a Chinese or other ethnic background, or for religion and sexuality as there is insufficient data to provide a result. Socio economic status key:NS SEC 1-2: Higher social groupsNS SEC 3-5: Middle social groupsNS SEC 6-8: Lower social groupsNS SEC 9: Students and other

Tennis: Equality

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on the equalities and non-discrimination policies of the Lawn Tennis Association.

Tracey Crouch: The department does not hold information on the equalities and non-discrimination policies of the Lawn Tennis Association. These are publicly available on the LTA’s website.

Broadband and Mobile Phones: Scotland

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans next to meet (a) Perth and Kinross and (b) Clackmannanshire Council to discuss the (i) roll-out of superfast broadband and (ii) mobile phone coverage in those council areas.

Margot James: The delivery of BDUK’s Superfast Programme in the areas of Perth, Kinross and Clackmannanshire is managed by the local delivery partner, Digital Scotland. The Department has several meetings scheduled with this project to discuss further Superfast roll-out across Scotland. Currently, there are no meetings scheduled between the Department and those councils in regards to Superfast roll-out. While there are no meetings scheduled with either council to discuss mobile coverage we remain committed to our ambition for the UK to have good quality connectivity where people live, work and travel. This is why we reformed the Electronic Communications Code in 2017, making it easier and cheaper to install digital infrastructure across the UK including Scotland. We also welcome Ofcom’s consultation, launched on 9 March, which outlines potential new licence obligations for rural coverage as part of the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. This will further help drive coverage improvements for consumers.

Openreach: Complaints

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) Ofcom and (b) the Ombudsman has the power to investigate complaints in respect of Openreach.

Margot James: Openreach does not have direct relationships with residential consumers. Consumer complaints should, in the first instance, be made to the communications company that provides the retail services and they will take them up with Openreach where necessary. If a customer is still unhappy after they have made a complaint to their provider, they can ask CICAS or the Ombudsman Services to investigate. Ofcom does not handle individual complaints but it monitors and analyses complaints and, where it sees evidence of recurring harm, it can take action. This process enables Ofcom to track the types of issue that affect consumers most and any providers that appear to be responsible for causing harm. In addition, Ofcom sets Openreach quality of service standards, which it is raising following its review of the Wholesale Local Access (WLA) market. Ofcom will monitor Openreach’s performance against these standards closely and step in if these are not met.

Sports: Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to develop opportunities to participate in sport for disabled people.

Tracey Crouch: We recognise the importance of helping disabled people to take part in sport and physical activity. Our sport and physical activity strategy, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', published in December 2015, emphasises the importance of getting people active, particularly those groups currently under-represented, including disabled people. Since 2012 Sport England has made disability sport a key part of its strategy and has delivered disability-focussed investment programmes. This has included the Inclusive Sport fund, which invested £19.2 million of National Lottery Funding in 87 projects to get more disabled people playing sport. In addition the Take-up programme, a £3 million investment programme that has been running since 2013 - 7 projects have received investment through this fund, a key focus of which has been to develop new partnerships to increase the number of disabled people being physically active. Sport England’s strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ also places a clear emphasis on targeting those who are hardest to reach, including disabled people, and as such they are ensuring that each of their investment programmes impacts directly on disabled people. As an example, the recently announced Active Ageing funding, part of the Tackling Inactivity programme, includes investment into projects that will target disabled people and people with long term illnesses. Sport England is also currently in discussions with National Disability Sports Organisations about the role they can play to support the delivery of ’Sporting Future’.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to assist local authorities in keeping public libraries open.

Michael Ellis: Local authorities in England have a statutory duty under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 (1964 Act) to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Under the 1964 Act, the Secretary of State has a duty to superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England, and to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of their library authority functions. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport provides funding to Arts Council England which supports public libraries in England including through the Arts Council’s Grants for the Arts programme. Funding for seven libraries organisations are in the Arts Council’s National Portfolio for 2018 to 2022, including the Society of Chief Librarians as a sector support organisation for libraries. In addition, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Local Government Association established the Libraries Taskforce. In December 2016, the Taskforce published ‘Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021’, which sets out a vision for library services in England. The Government is working with the Taskforce to promote good practice and innovation to assist library services and enable them to be sustainable for the long term.

Internet: Bullying

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to reduce cyber-bullying.

Margot James: This Government is committed to making the UK the safest place in the world for users to be online. In October last year we published the Internet Safety Strategy green paper. This sets out a range of measures which will ensure social media companies tackle online bullying. In her speech on 6 February, the Prime Minister confirmed that we will introduce a social media code of practice and an annual transparency report, as proposed in the green paper. Further details on these initiatives will form part of the Government response to the Strategy, which will be published later in the spring.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps is his Department taking to improve the technological infrastructure of broadband lines in rural areas.

Margot James: We are undertaking a range of actions to improve telecoms infrastructure across the UK, including in rural areas. To date, we have invested £1.7 billion of public money and we have delivered 95% superfast broadband coverage of the UK, we will continue to support delivery with at least a further 2% coverage likely to be achieved. For those not covered by the superfast programme, our new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) will give everyone the right to request a connection with at least 10Mbps download speed. In the Spring 2017 Budget, £200m of funding was allocated to the Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme. This includes a £190m Challenge Fund designed to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the UK. A £65m nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support connections to full fibre broadband has also been recently announced. In addition, £400 million of public funding has been made available for fibre connectivity through the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, which will unlock approximately £1 billion of private investment. Defra has also allocated £30 million of grant funding from the Rural Development Programme for England, targeted at helping to connect businesses with broadband in hard to reach rural areas. Beyond this, the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review will assess what further changes could be made to create the competitive conditions to encourage the long term investment needed to deliver the next generation of digital infrastructure in different areas of the UK, including hard-to-reach rural areas.

World Poetry Day

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what part he plans his Department to play in events celebrating World Poetry Day.

Michael Ellis: The Government is committed to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in all forms of arts and culture including poetry. We continue to support organisations such as the Poetry School and the Poetry Society who aim to promote the recognition and appreciation of poetry. The Poetry Society will have received over £1 million in funding between 2015 and 2018, to help it continue to represent British poetry both nationally and internationally. A range of events were held across the country to celebrate World Poetry Day on 21 March. For example, Redbridge Library held an open mic session; Brighton & Hove City Libraries tweeted its staff’s favourite poems on the day and Brighton Dome hosted the Emergency Poet and the Poetry Ambulance in Jubilee Square. To provide ongoing support to poetry, Arts Council England has recently given a substantial grant to The Poetry Business to support poets at every stage of their development. This includes a partnership with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who has selected leading emerging poets for promotion under the ‘Laureates Choice’ banner.

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on preparations to implement the broadband universal service obligation; if he will prioritise the allocation of broadband funding for areas with (a) very slow and (b) no connections; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: By 2020 the Universal Service Obligation (USO) will give everyone the legal right to high speed broadband of at least 10Mbps. We created new powers for this in the Digital Economy Act 2017, and subsequently ran a public consultation on the design of the USO, which we will be setting in secondary legislation very shortly. Ofcom will then be responsible for implementing the USO, including designating the universal service providers and the design of an industry cost-sharing fund. The USO is demand-led, and will, upon request, allow anyone who does not have a connection that meets the minimum specification from a designated provider, no matter where they live or work, up to a reasonable cost threshold.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Cambridge Analytica

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) his Department and (b) any of its agencies has entered into contracts with Cambridge Analytica since 2012.

Margot James: We have held no such contracts. Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Sports: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help local sports clubs access funding.

Tracey Crouch: Sport England, the government arms' length body with responsibility for supporting grassroots sport, has a number of investment funds which local sports clubs can apply to, including their Small Grants fund and the Community Asset Fund. Detailed information, including prospectuses and guidance on how to apply, can be found on Sport England’s website. Sport England's Club Matters web page also contains a section on ‘Club Management’ which covers topics including Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC), club structures and managing risk. In addition, Sport England revised and relaunched its commercial framework in June 2017. The framework will help organisations to reduce the levels of public funding they are reliant on through finding alternative sources of private investment.

Department for International Trade

Import Duties: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what information he has received from the US Administration on the criteria by which requests for exemptions from the tariffs on steel and aluminium imports will be evaluated.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Import Duties: EU Countries

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in EU Member States on the potential merits of introducing safeguarding tariffs against cheap steel and aluminium imports redirected from the United States.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Trade With EU

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that legal mechanisms are in place to ensure that third countries, with whom the UK has a trading arrangement through EU membership, will continue to provide the same terms of trade during the implementation period; and whether the UK will be able to retaliate to changes such as increased tariffs on British goods during transition if the UK is part of the Customs Union.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has plans to publish proposed trade deals  in draft to ensure Parliamentary scrutiny of those deals.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Metals: Imports

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has had discussions with his EU counterparts on initiating a safeguards investigation on steel and aluminium imports into the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Trade Barriers: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of retaliatory tariffs being imposed on the US causing a trade war; and what discussions he has had with the European Commission on that matter.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Trade Barriers: USA

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking with his counterparts in other EU countries to impose re-balancing measures to offset the effects of the US tariffs.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has met representatives of (a) SCL Group and (b) Cambridge Analytica.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies and public bodies have held contracts with (i) SCL Group and (ii) Cambridge Analytica.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.